The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board said they will not honor an order handed down by the state’s Supreme Court to terminate the state’s contract with a Catholic charter school. The board has now voted to seek a review of the case by the US Supreme Court, NPR reports.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters and others supported the vote, arguing that the decision against St Isidore infringes on religious liberty and educational choice.
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s 2023 decision to approve the St Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, which would have been the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school, was overturned in late June by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
The Catholic school was set to open this fall anyway, in defiance of the order of the state Supreme Court, whose majority ruled that the contract was unconstitutional, violating Article 2, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which prohibits public money or property from being used to support any religious institution. The ruling stated that St Isidore, as a Catholic school, would further the evangelizing mission of the Catholic Church, thus crossing constitutional boundaries.
“Every Oklahoman should be outraged by the board’s blatant hostility toward religious liberty,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond was quoted as saying. “Rather than acting to protect religious liberty, they are recklessly committed to using our tax dollars to fund radical religious teachings like Sharia law. I will continue to protect the religious liberty of all four million Oklahomans by upholding their constitutional rights.”
The board’s decision to appeal highlights ongoing tensions over the role of religious education in publicly funded institutions.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision reflects concerns about maintaining a separation between church and state and ensuring public funds are not used directly to support religious activities. The board’s push for a US Supreme Court review indicates a broader legal battle over the interpretation of religious freedom and public funding in education.