Judge Clears Way for Taxpayer Funded Jewish Charter School in Oklahoma
U.S. District Judge David L. Russell ruled on September 25 that Oklahoma likely cannot keep the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation out of the state's charter school program simply because the school is religious. Russell granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the state's rule requiring charter schools to remain nonsectarian, finding it "expressly discriminates against otherwise eligible recipients solely because of their religious character." The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board had rejected Ben Gamla's application in February, citing a 2024 state Supreme Court ruling against a separate Catholic charter school proposal, a case the U.S. Supreme Court later left in place on a 4 to 4 tie.
Becket Law senior counsel Daniel Chen, representing Ben Gamla, said the Constitution does not let a state welcome every kind of charter school except a religious one. Board attorney Hiram Sasser indicated Oklahoma will likely appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. If the ruling stands, Ben Gamla could open in time for the 2027 to 2028 school year, and the case could become the next major test of whether states must include religious schools in their charter programs on equal terms with secular ones.
