Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 2, 2023 / 09:30 am Nine Oklahoma residents and several interest groups, including the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, filed a lawsuit against state leaders to block the sponsorship and funding for the first approved Catholic charter school in the country. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 in early June to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would be the first religious and first Catholic charter school in Oklahoma and in the nation. The lawsuit, filed on July 31, asks the District Court of Oklahoma County to block state funding and prevent the school from operating as a charter school. “It’s unconscionable for the state of Oklahoma to be funding such an obviously sectarian religious school,” Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said in a statement. “This cannot be allowed to go unchallenged in our secular governmental system.” Charter schools in Oklahoma are public schools that are privately managed. The schools receive public funding through the same funding formula used for traditional public schools. They can obtain revenue from other sources but cannot charge tuition and must be operated as a nonprofit. The […]
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