Oklahoma Officials Clash, Publicly Funded Religious Charter School

Oklahoma could be the first state to open a publicly funded religious charter school. The state's virtual charter school board approved the school in June, but a contract has yet to be signed.

The June decision to approve St. Isidore immediately resulted in legal action, and four months later, lawyers are still working on the final legal documents. We know one name that will stay off the contract: the board's chairman, Dr. Robert Franklin. 

“I don't believe that's the place for me to be in a place of policy-making or lawmaking; that's not our responsibility,” Franklin said. “There's an honest amount of accountability measures that come with taxpayer dollars.”

Franklin says he feels it would be disingenuous for him to sign a contract for a school he doesn’t approve of. 

He has voted against the public funding of the charter school since the beginning, and was recently overruled in a 3-2 vote to move forward with the contract.

“I'm not trying to be obstinate and blow up the process by doing this. I'm just simply saying I just don't feel comfortable, nor do I feel like it is aligned with the oath that I took to sign a document that will be a historical document,” Franklin said.

Regardless, he says this violates the separation of church and state and knows it will bring legal action.

“I think it could be simpler, I think it could be simpler and done with conviction on all sides and serve families and and much more quickly and much more, efficiently than the path we're going down. So that's my biggest concern,” Franklin said.

Franklin said the legal teams for the board and archdiocese are working out the logistics of the contract without his name. He believes they will be able to move forward with the contract with only the names of the three members who voted in favor of the St. Isidore contract.

The religious school has also garnered national attention and had mixed reactions from state leaders. 

“These are ways we're going to think outside of the box and do more than any other state to empower families and do all that we can to protect religious liberties,” State Superintendent Ryan Walters said.

Walters said in June he was in favor of the school, saying it would provide additional school choice for Oklahoma families.

“This is state action funding a religious school, which flies in the face of the constitution,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said, in June. “You can anticipate that when that contract is signed, my office will bring in action.”

Drummond’s office sent a statement Tuesday, saying, “The Attorney General has maintained that the proposed school violates the state and U.S. constitutions.”

We reached out to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and did not receive a response.