Click here to view original article catholicreview.org
Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued Oct. 20, 2023, to challenge the constitutionality of the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approving the funding of a religious charter school. The board approved an application for the school submitted by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. (OSV News photo/Abi Ruth Martin, Legislative Service Bureau) Oklahoma’s Attorney General Gentner Drummond is challenging the constitutionality of the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school after a state school board approved the Catholic school’s application. The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted in June to approve an application by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to establish the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. Drummond argued in a lawsuit filed Oct. 20 that the board’s decision was unconstitutional. “The board members who approved this contract have violated the religious liberty of every Oklahoman by forcing us to fund the teachings of a specific religious sect with our tax dollars,” Drummond said in a statement. However, Phil Sechler, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, told OSV News that had the school board not approved the Catholic school as a qualified applicant, it would have treated a religious group as “second-class citizens.” “The argument […]