OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Following approval of Oklahoma’s first publicly-funded religious charter school, another religious organization hopes to open its own school.
Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School’s application to be the first publicly-funded religious charter school in the United States.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said approval of this type of application that is overtly religious in its teachings and operations will set a precarious precedent.
“While many Oklahomans undoubtedly support charter schools sponsored by various Christian faiths, the precedent created by approval of the … application will compel approval of similar applications by all faiths,” Drummond wrote. “I doubt most Oklahomans would want their tax dollars to fund a religious school whose tenets are diametrically opposed to their own faith. Unfortunately, the approval of a charter school by one faith will compel the approval of charter schools by all faiths, even those most Oklahomans would consider reprehensible and unworthy of public funding.”
Now, another religious organization says it is considering its own proposal.
Lucien Greaves, the cofounder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, says his organization may submit its own application if the decision stands.
“We’ll consider opening an alternative school if the courts uphold a flagrantly self-serving & uneducated, utterly unqualified & ignorant school board’s vote to overturn the constitution,” Greaves tweeted.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said the board should now welcome other religious groups like Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, and Bahai’s when they present their applications in the future.
Zed says he has written to the board to apply for a Hindu virtual charter school but has not received a response.