A group of Oklahoma faith leaders, public education advocates, and public-school parents filed a Supreme Court amicus brief in support of keeping charter schools secular. This lawsuit came about in 2023 when St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School received approval to become the nation’s first religious public charter school. Amici were represented by FFRF and a coalition of civil liberties organizations.
The brief argued that the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled correctly when it held that Oklahoma’s charter schools are public schools and must not be religious. Therefore, the proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School cannot operate as a public charter school.
The amici are plaintiffs in a separate lawsuit in Oklahoma state court that is challenging the charter school board’s approval of St. Isidore’s application to become a public school. That case is on hold while the case before the U.S. Supreme Court is resolved.
The team of attorneys that represents the amici is led by Alex J. Luchenitser of Americans United and includes Luke Anderson of Americans United; Daniel Mach and Heather L. Weaver of the ACLU; Robert Kim, Jessica Levin and Wendy Lecker of Education Law Center; Patrick Elliott of FFRF; Benjamin H. Odom, John H. Sparks, Michael W. Ridgeway, and Lisa M. Mason of Odom & Sparks; and J. Douglas Mann.
