Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond on Friday, October 20th sued to stop the nation’s first publicly-funded religious charter school.
In his legal filing to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Drummond argues the contract violates the Oklahoma Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. It also defies the will of Oklahoma voters, who in 2016 defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to allow public money to religious entities.
Drummond said the state’s sponsorship of St. Isidore puts at risk over a billion dollars annually in federal education funding. To receive those funds, the state agrees to comply with all federal laws and regulations. Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a charter school must be nonsectarian in all aspects.
“There is no religious freedom in compelling Oklahomans to fund religions that may violate their own deeply held beliefs,” he said. “The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted Oklahoma’s Constitution clearly understood how best to protect religious freedom: by preventing the State from sponsoring any religion at all.”
