The False Promise of Freedom in Publicly Funding Religious Schools

On October 20, 2023, Gentner Drummond, the Attorney General of Oklahoma, filed a petition with the state supreme court asking it to issue a declaratory judgment against the state’s sponsorship of the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. He argues the sponsorship violates both the U.S. Constitution (specifically the Establishment Clause) and the state constitution (specifically article II, which says “no public money…shall ever be appropriated…or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion…or sectarian institution”).

Drummond goes on to make an important point about the charter school that deserves consideration, “There is no religious freedom in compelling Oklahomans to fund religions that may violate their own deeply held beliefs.” As the AG’s press release says,

(Oklahoma’s existing) constitutional protections ensure religious liberty, preventing a scenario in which Muslim Oklahomans would be forced to fund Christian and Jewish schools, Jewish Oklahomans would be forced to fund Christian and Muslim schools, and Oklahomans of no faith would be forced to fund religious schools for all faiths.

This raises the question: is the Oklahoma Catholic virtual charter school truly a pursuit of, in the words of executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma Brett Farley, “religious freedom for all,” or is this claim merely a charade to conceal an attack upon the religious (or non-religious) freedom of the majority to benefit a select few?

In an article on another site I look at the ways in which the religious virtual charter school movement, rather than offering real freedom for all citizens, instead offers power and money for religious institutions (and their governmental supporters) while undermining the freedom of everyone else who is not completely on board with the institutions’ agendas. Such undermining of the freedom that is legitimately granted by the First Amendment is an immediate threat to our civil rights and educational systems, and a long-term threat to democracy itself.

Click here to read the full article on the Transforming Way website.

Image: Pajero bishop scandal (Source).