St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond

Opening doors to education in the Sooner State 

Families throughout Oklahoma, especially those living in rural school districts, need more educational options for their children.  For over a century, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa have operated Catholic schools to serve Oklahoma families. These schools offer parents the opportunity to provide their children with an education that nurtures both the heart and mind, giving students the tools they need to thrive. To extend this rich tradition to more Oklahomans—especially those in rural and underserved communities—the dioceses launched a virtual charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. In 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore to join the over 30 privately-run charter schools in the state.  

St. Isidore targeted for its faith  

Shortly after St. Isidore signed its contract to operate as a charter school, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued the charter school board. Drummond argued that St. Isidore should not be allowed to participate in the state charter school programs simply because it is religious. He claimed that approving a Catholic virtual charter school would essentially create a state-sponsored religious public school, even though the school, the Diocese, and the charter school board all agree that St. Isidore continues to be a private school. In 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked the School Board from allowing St. Isidore to participate in the program. 

This is yet another example of government officials attempting to exclude religious groups from publicly available education benefits. Despite the Supreme Court’s clear guidance in Trinity Lutheran, Espinoza, and Carson—which held that religious institutions cannot be denied access to public funding simply because of their religious character—states continue to take steps that shut out religious schools from programs offered to other private institutions. This is taking place not just in Oklahoma but also in Maine and California where state governments are defying Carson and blocking otherwise-qualified religious schools from participating in programs intended to help rural and disabled students. This case is an opportunity to close some of the loopholes that states have been using to continue excluding religious organizations from generally available funding.    

Becket takes a stand to defend Orthodox Jews 

On March 12, 2025, Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of St. Isidore and on behalf of the Orthodox Union, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish synagogue organization, representing nearly 1,000 congregations as well as more than 400 Jewish non-public K-12 schools across the United States.  

For many Orthodox Jews, sending children to Jewish day school is a requirement of their faith. Like other schools in America, Orthodox Jewish schools often rely on government funding to provide additional security measures and much-needed assistance to students with disabilities. If states are allowed to continue skirting Carson and other Supreme Court rulings, Orthodox Jewish communities will be harmed. Oklahoma’s attempt to label religious schools as “state actors”—simply because they receive government funding—would force Orthodox Jewish schools to choose between maintaining their religious identity and protecting their students. That’s bad for Orthodox Jewish schools, bad for the families who depend on St. Isidore, and bad for diverse religious families across the country.  

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

• Education: Religious schools should be able to participate in publicly available programs without discrimination, and religious school students should be able to participate in these programs on equal footing as students who attend non-religious schools.