First Religious Charter School Sparks Legal, Philosophical Battles

[Michie]

Oklahoma school, which is set to become the nation’s first religious charter, finds little support among broader community charter advocates​

A legal battle over a proposed charter school in Oklahoma could unlock a new avenue for religious education—and some of the fiercest opposition is coming from within the existing charter-school movement.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently heard arguments over whether to allow a publicly funded, expressly religious Catholic charter school, which would represent the first of its type in the nation.

State laws have long barred such schools. Supporters, including conservative lawyers and religious-education advocates, call those laws discriminatory and say they run afoul of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Some observers expect the issue to eventually reach the high court.

If the effort to allow religious charters is successful, it could open up school options for some parents, redirect public money to support religious instruction and upend the charter-school movement and publicly funded education more broadly.

Some charter advocates are wary of this future. They say that charters were always intended to be secular, public schools. A religious charter school, they say, is a contradiction in terms.

“It’s a complete repudiation of the central principles of the chartering idea,” said Joe Nathan, who was a leader in the successful effort to pass the country’s first charter-school law in Minnesota in 1991.

Charter schools are typically run by private nonprofit boards, overseen by public agencies and funded with public dollars. The idea has held appeal across the political spectrum, including among Democrats supportive of school choice but wary of vouchers that would fund private religious schools. Charter schools, which exist in 44 states, have grown rapidly since their creation and now educate nearly four million students, amounting to 7% of all publicly educated students.


Continued below.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/charter-school-religious-schools-oklahoma-219e8648

 

[chevyontheriver]

Oklahoma school, which is set to become the nation’s first religious charter, finds little support among broader community charter advocates​

A legal battle over a proposed charter school in Oklahoma could unlock a new avenue for religious education—and some of the fiercest opposition is coming from within the existing charter-school movement.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently heard arguments over whether to allow a publicly funded, expressly religious Catholic charter school, which would represent the first of its type in the nation.

State laws have long barred such schools. Supporters, including conservative lawyers and religious-education advocates, call those laws discriminatory and say they run afoul of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Some observers expect the issue to eventually reach the high court.

If the effort to allow religious charters is successful, it could open up school options for some parents, redirect public money to support religious instruction and upend the charter-school movement and publicly funded education more broadly.

Some charter advocates are wary of this future. They say that charters were always intended to be secular, public schools. A religious charter school, they say, is a contradiction in terms.

“It’s a complete repudiation of the central principles of the chartering idea,” said Joe Nathan, who was a leader in the successful effort to pass the country’s first charter-school law in Minnesota in 1991.

Charter schools are typically run by private nonprofit boards, overseen by public agencies and funded with public dollars. The idea has held appeal across the political spectrum, including among Democrats supportive of school choice but wary of vouchers that would fund private religious schools. Charter schools, which exist in 44 states, have grown rapidly since their creation and now educate nearly four million students, amounting to 7% of all publicly educated students.


Continued below.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/charter-school-religious-schools-oklahoma-219e8648

The history of 'public' schools was always to deny funding to Catholic schools. Back when schools were community based there were no hard and fast rules about banning religion from these schools. When funding went from community to public there were no rules banning religion from these schools as long as the religion was Protestant. It was always about being sure Catholic schools got nothing. Of course Protestant religion eventually got banned from the public schools and so now charter schools are facing the same fight as to whether a group of parents can form a charter school that is religious, Catholic or Protestant.