Some good news.
Public funds for religious charter school would be unconstitutional, Oklahoma high court says
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“Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,” Justice James Winchester, an appointee of former Republican Gov. Frank Keating, wrote in the court’s majority opinion. “As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian.
“However, St. Isidore will evangelize the Catholic school curriculum while sponsored by the state.”
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Diocese of Tulsa said in a statement they will “consider all legal options” in response to the court’s ruling.
The court’s decision was 7-1, with one member concurring in part and one member, Chief Justice John Kane IV, recusing himself. Justice Dana Kuehn dissented.
Five of Oklahoma’s nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republicans, four by Democrats.
In her dissent, Kuehn wrote that excluding St. Isidore from operating a charter school based solely on its religious affiliation would violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Oklahoma Constitution does not bar Oklahoma from contracting with religious schools as long as state-funded, nonreligious options are available, Kuehn wrote.
Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who urged the board not to approve the contract, had asked the state’s high court to intervene and rule on the case. He praised the court’s decision.
“The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted Oklahoma’s Constitution clearly understood how best to protect religious freedom: by preventing the state from sponsoring any religion at all,” Drummond said in a statement.
more:
http://apnews.com/article/public-religious-catholic-charter-school-unconstitutional-oklahoma-e4ef414605094313331a39cc645ede8a?
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