Oklahoma board, St. Isidore ask US Supreme Court to consider religious charter school case

In separate filings, the Statewide Charter School Board and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that the board cannot enter into a contract with St. Isidore, which is seeking to become the nation’s first religious online charter school.

Attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom, a politically conservative, Christian legal group representing the state board, filed what’s known as a writ of certiorari with the nation’s highest court Monday. St. Isidore’s attorneys later made a similar filing Monday.

The case is being watched closely because of its religious overtones and potential for a precedent-setting ruling. A charter school, by law and definition, is considered a public school. Should St. Isidore and the board prevail in their appeal, it would mean public money would flow to a religious school. St. Isidore is operated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.

The attorneys for the board and St. Isidore used identical language in their filings in explaining to the U.S. Supreme Court the legal questions the case presents. The first is, they wrote, “Whether the academic and pedagogical choices of a privately owned and run school constitute state action simply because it contracts with the state to offer a free educational option for interested students.”

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