OKLAHOMA CITY – The Statewide Charter School Board voted unanimously last week to reject the application submitted by the Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation. The application would have created a publicly funded Jewish charter school in the state.
The board said its decision was primarily based on legal precedent established by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2024. That ruling said a religious charter school would be unlawful under the state’s Constitution.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed with the state Attorney General’s office, and while the ruling was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, last May the nation’s high court – in a split 4-4 decision with one justice recused – affirmed the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling.
That ruling arose from litigation involving the then-Statewide Virtual Charter School Board and the Attorney General’s office. The lawsuit was filed after the Virtual Charter School Board approved a virtual charter school plan from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa in 2023.
Charter School Board Chairman Brian Shellem said his board has been “placed in a difficult position.”
“While we value innovation, parental choice, and high-quality educational opportunities for families, we are unfortunately bound by the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling from 2024, even if we disagree with it,” Shellem said in a media statement issued after the ruling. “Merit should be the deciding factor if a charter is awarded to an applicant. Families deserve more high-quality, publicly funded schools from which to choose and our nation’s collective future depends on improving its education system. Alienating proven, successful partners runs contrary to us achieving that goal, which is why this deserves resolution at the highest level with the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The Ben Gamla effort was founded by former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch. Duetsch told the charter school board that many families in Oklahoma were looking for a religious education option.
Still, while several groups said they supported the Ben Gamla application, others in the Jewish community along with the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the plan.
In January, leaders from Tulsa’s synagogues, Jewish day school and community organizations issued a statement saying they did not support efforts by an outside group to create the school.
“We are deeply concerned that an external Jewish organization would pursue such an initiative in Oklahoma without first engaging in meaningful consultation with the established Oklahoma Jewish community,” the statement said. “To bypass community consultation in favor of an externally driven initiative is a serious error.”
The statement was signed the executive director of the Mizel Jewish Community Day School, rabbis from two Tulsa synagogues, and the head of Jewish Tulsa, the local federation.
In addition to Jewish officials, representatives of several civil rights organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the board, saying a publicly funded religious school “would be a flagrant violation of Oklahomans’ religious freedom and the constitutional promise of churchstate separation, as well as Oklahoma’s guarantee that public schools be open to all.”
The letter was authored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU, Education Law Center, Freedom from Religion Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
Still, the fight for the school isn’t over. After the ruling, representatives of the school said they planned to file a legal challenge in federal court.
M. Scott Carter is an award-winning political and investigative reporter with more than 40 years’ experience covering federal and state government and politics in Oklahoma. He can be reached at scott.carter@swoknews.com.