The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday, stating that Oklahoma cannot exclude a Jewish charter school from its program because of the school’s religious nature.
The National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation sued the state in March after Oklahoma denied the school’s application to participate in the program due to a state Supreme Court ruling preventing religious schools from taking part.
David Russell, the judge, ruled that a charter school differs from a typical public school because it is founded as a private institution with a board of directors that is not publicly elected.
“Neutrally administering the charter school program to neither favor nor disfavor religion does not offend the Establishment Clause,” Russell wrote. “Plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction precluding the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board from enforcing the nonsectarian requirement or otherwise excluding plaintiffs from participating in the charter school program on account of their religious character.”
Daniel Chen, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the school, stated that “the Constitution doesn’t permit the state to welcome every kind of charter school except a religious one.”
“Ben Gamla now gets what it should have had from the start: a fair shot to serve Oklahoma families,” he said.
