OKLAHOMA CITY — Legal efforts to found the nation’s first religious charter school in Oklahoma have reignited, with a and a former U.S. congressman filing a lawsuit against the state Tuesday.

The founding group of Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School and former Florida U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, who applied to open the school, sued the state’s attorney general and the Statewide Charter School Board in Oklahoma City federal court.

The statewide board, which governs charter schools, voted earlier this month to deny the school’s application to open. The Oklahoma Supreme Court forbade the board from permitting state-funded religious schools in .

Deutsch and Ben Gamla’s founders allege religious groups are wrongfully excluded from opening charter schools with faith-based instruction — a similar argument Oklahoma Catholic leaders made when trying to establish St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. 

They contend the Jewish school’s rejection amounts to religious discrimination, violating the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They asked a federal judge to block the state from enforcing Oklahoma laws that require charter schools to be non-sectarian.

“We’re asking the court to end that blatant religious targeting and allow families to choose schools that are best for them,” Deutsch said in a statement Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office, Shauna Peters, said it is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond in due time.

A law firm representing the Statewide Charter School Board didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Attorney General Genter Drummond led the legal fight against the Catholic school, contending the concept of a publicly funded religious school would violate church-state separation enshrined in both the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions. The state Supreme Court sided with him.

Members of the Statewide Charter School Board said they rejected Ben Gamla’s application solely to comply with the Supreme Court ruling and . They hired a conservative Christian legal group, the First Liberty Institute, to represent them.

After the Catholic school was rejected at the state level, the in April of last year. The nation’s highest Court , with Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused. That allowed the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling to stand.

One of the Catholic school’s founding board members, Brett Farley, now holds a similar board position with the Jewish school as a representative of prospective parents.

All charter school boards in the state must have a parent member. Drummond called into question whether Farley, who is Catholic, would genuinely enroll a child in the school. Farley told Oklahoma Voice he “would definitely” consider the school for his daughter, if it opens.

For this reason and others, Drummond contended Ben Gamla’s board and application had multiple deficiencies beyond the religious component that should have contributed to its rejection. He against the statewide board, alleging it deliberately weakened its own legal position to benefit the school’s federal case.

Drummond asked that an Oklahoma County district judge order the board to issue a new and complete rejection letter to the school.

Meanwhile, multiple Oklahoma synagogues and Jewish organizations . In a January joint statement, they said Ben Gamla’s founding group failed to meaningfully consult the local Jewish community.

Deutsch told the statewide board he spoke with about 10 Jewish parents and 20 people total in Oklahoma before applying to open Ben Gamla. He founded six secular charter schools in Florida that have a similar name.

The Oklahoma school would offer an online-based education to students K-12 that is “intellectually rigorous and deeply rooted in Jewish knowledge, values and lived tradition,” according to its application.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite rejecting a Jewish charter school a second time, an Oklahoma state board is preparing to argue in the school’s favor in court.

The Statewide Charter School Board on Monday voted to deny a resubmitted application to open Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School. Board members said they had no choice but to comply with a that prohibited the concept of taxpayer-funded religious schools.

Chairperson Brian Shellem said most of the board members disagree with the state Supreme Court’s decision, and they plan to fight against it. They unanimously chose a conservative Christian legal group, the First Liberty Institute, to represent them once the Jewish school’s founders file an expected lawsuit.

The board supported a prior attempt to open a Catholic charter school in the state. The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected the Catholic school, deciding a publicly funded religious school would violate the church-state separation required under the Oklahoma Constitution. A upheld the state-level ruling.

Shellem said the board’s position is the same as before — that a charter school concept shouldn’t be denied simply because it would include religious instruction.

“We’re not showing favoritism towards a religious component, but we also don’t think we should be discriminating against it,” he said after the board meeting.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond led the legal fight against the Catholic charter school. His office is now tasked with reviewing the Statewide Charter School Board’s request to hire the First Liberty Institute for legal representation.

A spokesperson for Drummond said the Attorney General’s Office will review the request. His office did not answer whether Drummond would fight the Jewish charter school in court.

Ben Gamla would provide an online-based education that “integrates general academic excellence with Jewish religious learning,” according to its resubmitted application. Its founding governing board, originally led by Florida charter school founder Peter Deutsch, aims to enroll 400 students K-12 statewide in year one.

However, leaders of five Oklahoma synagogues and Jewish organizations said the school’s founders failed to meaningfully consult the local Jewish community before seeking to open Ben Gamla.

“Had such consultation occurred, the applicant would have been made aware that Oklahoma is already home to many Jewish educational opportunities,” they wrote in a in January.

Deutsch told the statewide board he had spoken with about 10 Jewish parents in Oklahoma before applying to open the school. He established six secular charter schools in Florida with a similar Ben Gamla name, but he said the Oklahoma school would be a completely separate entity.

Initially, the Oklahoma school’s founding board included only one Oklahoma resident, Brett Farley, who held a similar role with the defunct Catholic charter school. When , the statewide board noted Oklahoma law requires all charter school board members to live in the state.

Deutsch then submitted an updated application for state approval. The resubmitted application adds new board members and states that all are Oklahoma residents.

Among the new members are local charter founder and school choice advocate Robert Ruiz and Kandice Jeske, a .

Farley said the Ben Gamla board will file a federal lawsuit soon to challenge the school’s rejection.

“We remain confident that our charter is something that needs to be approved,” he said Monday. “The (U.S.) Supreme Court’s already said three times that states have to respect the rights of religious institutions to participate in these (state-funded) programs, and unfortunately, the state Supreme Court disagreed. And so, we’re going to seek remedy in the federal courts.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — After unsuccessfully , an Oklahoma board will “more than likely” have to deny a proposal to found another publicly funded religious charter school in the state.

The Statewide Charter School Board is expected to vote next month on a Jewish charter school’s application for approval.

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Chairperson Brian Shellem said the state board is legally bound to obey an that rejected opening a religious charter school with taxpayer funds. A deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court .

That means, “we will more than likely have to deny their application,” Shellem said, though he suggested the school could do an “outstanding job” academically.

If rejected, the school founders would have an opportunity to reapply a second and final time.

Shellem said he expects the founders also might file a lawsuit if denied.

“I would not be shocked or surprised if this ignites another legal battle,” Shellem said. “So regardless of whatever happens, I really do believe our board would be sued no matter what.”

Ben Gamla would provide an education that is “intellectually rigorous and deeply rooted in Jewish knowledge, values and lived tradition,” according to its application.

Each employee, though allowed to have different religious beliefs, would be considered a “servant of the Jewish faith” and would be expected to “uphold the standards of the Jewish tradition in their day-to-day work and personal lives,” the application states.

A Florida charter school founder and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch said he is committed to making Ben Gamla a success in Oklahoma.

“This is something that’s been in my head for at least 10 years, if not longer, and I think the opportunity is probably the best in Oklahoma of any state in the United States of America today,” Deutsch said when presenting to the state board on Monday.

Brett Farley, who sat on the board of the now-defunct Catholic charter school, is also listed among the founding board members for the Jewish school.

The application promises a K-12 online-based education with rigorous academics. Ben Gamla, named for a high priest in Israel 2,000 years ago, also would provide instruction in Jewish religion, culture, values, rituals, texts, holidays and practices.

Like Deutsch’s secular Ben Gamla charter schools in Florida, the Oklahoma school would teach Hebrew classes. Deutsch said the Oklahoma school, though bearing a similar name, is an entirely separate organization from his Florida charter school network.

While presenting to the statewide board, Deutsch said the online school would be open to students of any background. He said he first visited Oklahoma a few years ago to explore the possibility of founding a school and visited with about 20 people, including 10 Jewish parents.

“My sense of talking to parents was there are a lot of parents that are looking for a sort of a faith-based, rigorous academic program, but there was nothing there,” Deutsch said.

State law and recent court precedent don’t allow charter schools, or any public school, in Oklahoma to adopt a particular religion. No existing charter schools in the state emphasize the Hebrew language or Judaic studies as Ben Gamla would, though multiple synagogues and Jewish community centers in Tulsa and Oklahoma City do.

An estimated , or .22% of the state’s total population.

The Ben Gamla application proposes opening later this year with a goal year-one enrollment of 400 students K-12. Its goal enrollment is 1,150 students in five years.

During Deutsch’s presentation, Shellem brought up the “elephant in the room” — why apply for approval after the board’s experience with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School? Deutsch gave a succinct response.

“We have presented an application for you that we believe meets and exceeds all of your criteria,” Deutsch said. “And so, we expect and hope that you’re going to approve that application.”

The statewide board isn’t interested in “paying for Sunday school,” Shellem said after the meeting Monday. Rather, the board is hunting for charters that would produce strong academic results.

“I believe the Ben Gamla school could deliver that,” he said. “I think St. Isidore could have delivered that. And we are going to be bound by the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling no matter what, and we will comply with those orders. But, I think it’s unfortunate that we have to potentially deny schools that are highly qualified that could do an outstanding job for students in the areas of mathematics, science, reading (and) literature because of their desire to teach a religious component.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.