Two Catholic dioceses have submitted an application to address educational gaps in Oklahoma by opening the first religious charter school in the nation, St. Isidore.
Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic has assisted the dioceses’ efforts to secure authorization to operate a Catholic charter school despite provisions of Oklahoma law that prohibit charter schools from being affiliated with religious organizations and that require the schools to be “non-sectarian.”
Last December, the attorney general of Oklahoma, John O’Connor, issued an opinion letter concluding that these exclusions of faith-based charter schools likely violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
“It has been a great privilege to support this important endeavor,” said Notre Dame Law School Professor Nicole Stelle Garnett. “St. Isidore will enable the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa to provide a rigorous, and authentically Catholic, learning environment to students who would otherwise lack access to a Catholic school.”
Members of the Order of St. Thomas More stand with the Religious Liberty Clinic and aid in protecting religious freedom across the United States. Read more about how the Religious Liberty Clinic is currently supporting religious freedom >