CNA Staff, Jun 6, 2024 / 17:52 pm
An Oklahoma judge this week said a lawsuit challenging the nation’s first religious charter school can proceed, a victory for opponents wishing to halt public funding of the Catholic institution.
Oklahoma County District Judge Richard Ogden will allow the lawsuit against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to move forward almost in its entirety, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) said in a press release.
In October 2023, the state board approved the charter contract for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, putting the school on the path to becoming the first religiously affiliated charter school in the United States.
A charter school is a privately managed institution that receives public funding like standard public schools. The plaintiffs in the Oklahoma lawsuit — who are being represented by AU, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation — contend that the state’s funding of a religious school violates both Oklahoma statutory and constitutional law.