Litigation Update: OKPLAC, Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board

After Carson v. Makin (2023) --a U.S. Supreme Court case holding that Maine may not prohibit families from using state-provided voucher funds at private religious schools-- St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School (St. Isidore) applied to become the first faith-based virtual charter school in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore’s application. On July 31, 2023, the Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee, represented by the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church & State, and other organizations, filed a lawsuit against State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, and St. Isidore. The lawsuit alleges that it is a violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and Oklahoma law to grant charter school status and distribute state aid to a faith-based school. Subsequently, the Attorney General of Oklahoma, Gentner Drummond, filed a separate lawsuit requesting original jurisdiction in the Oklahoma Supreme Court, taking the side of the ACLU and its allies, and seeking to ban St. Isidore from operating a faith-based virtual charter school. Currently, Oklahoma families may choose to send their children, for free, to local public schools, local charter schools run by private organizations, or virtual charter schools run by private organizations. Those seeking to block St. Isidore’s operation take the position that, while Oklahoma may allow secular private organizations to operate charter schools, it must deny the same opportunity to all faith-based organizations. The Defendants in the suits argue that Carson v. Makin and other recent precedents applying the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as different Oklahoma state laws, prohibit the state from discriminating against St. Isidore because of its faith-based status and denying families of Oklahoma a faith-based choice among the many secular choices for free education in Oklahoma. Join us for a litigation update on OKPLAC, Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. Featuring: Michael McGinley, Partner, Dechert LLP (Moderator) Hiram Sasser, Executive General Counsel, First Liberty Institute