Oklahoma AG says North Carolina ruling may be a precedent to deny Catholic charter school in Oklahoma

Jun. 27—The United States Supreme Court declined to hear a charter school case in North Carolina, and Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the decision might be a good sign for critics of a religious statewide virtual charter school.

The high Court did not take action on Charter Day School Inc. v. Peltier, allowing the lower court ruling to stand, which affirmed that charter schools are state actors.

On June 5, Oklahoma's Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted to approve what would be the nation's first religious charter school — Saint Isodore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — a school that would be directed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

Drummond maintained that this is a violation of U.S. and state constitutions.

"The Supreme Court's decision not to take up the Peltier case is promising for all Oklahomans who are troubled by the possibility of state-funded religious charter schools," Drummond said. "While the Court's action may be taken as a favorable development in the effort to maintain secular public schools, I expect much litigation on this issue in the months to come. I will continue fighting to protect the Constitution and preserve religious liberty, just as my oath requires."

In Charter Day School Inc. v. Peltier, respondents, some students and their parents sued the North Carolina charter school because of a requirement that female students adhere to a uniform policy, which included not wearing pants. They stated that this requirement violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, Title IX, 20 U.S.C § 1681 and state law, according to documents filed and listed at the Supreme Court of the United States.

But Charter Day School Inc. said "as a private nonprofit corporation that contracts with the State to operate a charter school, it is not a state actor and therefore not subject to suit under Section 1983."

Petitioners said state-action doctrine limits when private entities are considered state actors to "preserve an area of individual freedom by limiting the reach of federal law," according to Brentwood, 531 U.S. at 295. This ruling stated that, "If state officials are pervasively entangled with the structure of an association, its actions are state action even if it is not technically a government organization."

Petitioners further stated that charter schools are an example of this value. States contract with private entities to reduce government control and to encourage educational options. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision "perverts that model by subjecting charter schools to ongoing federal-court supervision under Section 1983."

The SVCSB's decision remains a concern for many.

House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma, thinks the effort to divert public taxpayer dollars to fund religious schools discriminates against students and staff members in public schools.

"(The effort) highlights the Republican supermajority's priority this legislative session — using public dollars to fund private schools," Munson said.