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Oklahoma City, June 6 (AP) – A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve the country’s first public religious school, despite warnings from the state’s attorney general that the decision is unconstitutional.
The statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application of the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma to establish the Seville San Isodol Virtual Charter School. The online public charter school will be open to students in grades K-12 across the state.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had warned the board that such a decision clearly violated the Oklahoma Constitution.
“Approving any public religious school is against Oklahoma law and is not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond said in a statement shortly after the board’s vote. “It is extremely disappointing that board members have broken their vows in order to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the state to potentially costly legal action.”
United States for the Separation of Church and State vowed in a statement Monday to take “all possible legal action against this decision.”
The American Federation for the Separation of Church and State condemned the board’s approval.
“It’s hard to imagine a more blatant violation of the religious liberty of Oklahoma taxpayers and public school families than the establishment of the nation’s first religious public charter school in Oklahoma,” said Rachel Ray, president and CEO of the organization Ze said in a statement. “This is a sea change for American democracy. The American Federation is working with our Oklahoma and national partners to take all possible legal action against this decision and to defend the commitments enshrined in Oklahoma and the U.S. Constitution separation of church and state.” (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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