Oklahoma AG sues to stop publicly funded religious school: 'Waste of our tax dollars'
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond — a Republican — is bucking his own party in a new lawsuit aimed at preventing what would be the first publicly funded religious school in America from opening.
On Friday, Drummond filed the suit in Oklahoma Supreme Court, challenging the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board's 3-2 decision in June to grant a contract to open St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School. According to PBS, Drummond warned that the establishment of St. Isidore, which is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, would lead to the floodgates opening for religious groups of all stripes to make bids for public funding for schools of their own.
"Make no mistake, if the Catholic Church were permitted to have a public virtual charter school, a reckoning will follow in which this state will be faced with the unprecedented quandary of processing requests to directly fund all petitioning sectarian groups," the lawsuit read.
Religion aside, opening the floodgates in this way just doesn't make sense. Our public schools are already underfunded. Why would they want to use the same pool of money to fund even more schools?
Because the point isn't to fund schools. It's to create a Christian Theocracy.
That's the top priority and long term goal. Until they can get that, they'll settle for an undereducated public since ignorance is the best friend of the preacher..
Alberta, Canada, has a separate publicly funded catholic school system. They bus kids to our main government building every year for the big anti-abortion rally.
Jesus Christ this is disgusting. What’s next, livestreams of MAGA rallies in class?
Is this something you can opt out of? As in if an atheist doesn't want their tax money going to it?
To make them worse. How else is the Republican party going to grow in the future?
It is a way to segregate the "worthy" from the rest (or vice versa I guess depending on if your "worthy" or not).
Conservatives have been trying to kill public schools since integration was forced on them. Notice that this was a "virtual" school?
Interesting tidbit: in the Netherlands all schools are publicly funded, including religious ones.
Well yeah. No one wants to get on Thor's bad side.
Ah, so it's the old Catholics vs Protestants again.
It'll probably end up being the Catholics vs. the Satanic Temple
I was about to ask when the Satanists were showing up. I love those guys.
More like he knows Lucian Grieves of the Satanic Temple has already prefilled a letter with his lawyer friend to have St. Lucifer's Preparatory Academy financed by Oklahoma state funds. Just waiting for the Catholic funding to be upheld and the letter gets mailed. Along with affidavit from a local Oklahoma Satanist who is absolutely enthusiastic about having their child schooled at St. Lucifers.
Like protestant vs Catholic is least of their problems. They have to finance a Wiccan Coven school, Muslim masrada, scientologist school, a norse Viking academy and so on.
Since as the rule goes: can't start making rulings on which religions are in and which are out.
Project much?
The "constitutional principle of religious freedom" says there shall be no official state religion. So...when the state funds something religious, what does that sound like to them
They probably think that it’s freedom of choice.
"It's way too much work and too expensive" is a pretty standard Republican argument against everything, and not exactly what looks like the core of the problem here. But, I guess he is trying to appeal to other Republicans here, and it's pretty clear there are some powerful ones who want a lot more church in their state.
The whole "Oklahoma voted 60% against removing the state constitution prohibition on funding churches in 2016" thing seems a lot more compelling to me.
Did not expect to see this in my lifetime but I’ll take it.
You mean you didnt expect actual change in your life by only typing in political subs? Can't argue with that
I assume they meant a Republican taking a stand against Christian nationalism.
He didn't, his problem is that they may have to fund other religious schools if this goes through.
Yes, while doing nothing to change their opinions besides typing here
What are you talking about?
this fella is going to be fired. may even consider driving instead of flying for awhile
Too bad we don’t have a political party with a platform that includes being true to the foundations of our government, such as adhering to the Constitution.
Tell them to go ahead and have their school, but that it means the Catholic Church loses its tax exempt status.
Muslim school next.