A former member of the U.S. Congress is eyeing the possibility of launching a virtual Jewish religious charter school in Oklahoma, months after a Catholic school’s attempt to do so failed.
Peter Deutsch, a Democrat who represented Florida’s 20th congressional district from 1993 to 2005, filed a letter of intent earlier this month with the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, Oklahoma Voice reported last week.
Deutsch has helped launch six non-religious Hebrew-English charter schools in Florida, which are part of the Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School organization.
“Ben Gamla envisions Oklahoma students gaining a rigorous, values-based education that integrates general academic excellence with Jewish religious learning and ethical development,” wrote Deutsch.
The formal application has not yet been submitted, with Deutsch explaining that the entity submitting the application shall be distinct from the organization overseeing schools in Florida.
Brett Farley, a member of the board of directors for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been the state’s first religious charter school before it was struck down in court, was listed in Deutsch’s letter as part of the founding team for the proposed Jewish school, reported Oklahoma Voice.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a secular legal organization that had been part of the litigation to stop the launching of St. Isidore, has expressed concern about the Ben Gamla proposal.
AU President and CEO Rachel Laser said in a statement on Tuesday that she believed “charter schools are public schools that must be secular and open to all students.”
“Despite their loss earlier this year at the U.S. Supreme Court, religious extremists once again are trying to undermine our country’s promise of church-state separation by forcing Oklahoma taxpayers to fund a religious public school,” stated Laser.
“Not on our watch. … Americans United is prepared to do whatever it takes to safeguard public education and religious freedom for all Oklahomans.”
In June 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the creation of St. Isidore, which would be jointly overseen by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Catholic Diocese of Tulsa.
Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a complaint against the board in October 2023, and a coalition of liberal groups filed a lawsuit in July 2023.
In June 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 7-1 against St. Isidore, with the majority concluding that the Catholic entity’s approval violated the state constitution.
Although the charter school board unanimously voted to rescind the contract for St. Isidore per an order from the highest state court, they also filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief per curiam opinion ruling 4-4 to affirm the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling against the establishment of St. Isidore.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the case, recusing herself due to reported personal ties to a professor who had been an early adviser to St. Isidore.
