Oklahoma Catholic Charter School Passes Constitutional Muster

It has been in the news recently that Oklahoma regulators — specifically, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board — have approved the charter application of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The school will provide a distinctively Catholic, academically rigorous program and will focus on the needs of underserved, rural, and special-needs students who will, like students attending other charter schools, receive public support. This development is part of a larger movement, which has accelerated significantly due to Covid-related school closures and increased parental engagement, in the direction of school choice.

Generally speaking, the reactions to this news have been what one might expect: Those who are attached to or invested in the near-monopoly of government-run schools and to the political power of public-employee unions are displeased; those who support educational pluralism and parental empowerment are supportive.

RG

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Richard Garnett

Richard Garnett is the Paul J. Schierl Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.

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It has been in the news recently that Oklahoma regulators — specifically, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board — have approved the charter application of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The school will provide a distinctively Catholic, academically rigorous program and will focus on the needs of underserved, rural, and special-needs students who will, like students attending other charter schools, receive public support. This development is part of a larger movement, which has accelerated significantly due to Covid-related school closures and increased parental engagement, in the direction of school choice.

Generally speaking, the reactions to this news have been what one might expect: Those who are attached to or invested in the near-monopoly of government-run schools and to the political power of public-employee unions are displeased; those who support educational pluralism and parental empowerment are supportive.