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news
October 25, 2023
Drummond files lawsuit against state virtual charter board members

OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Friday filed suit against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board for approving what would be the nation’s first religious charter school funded by public tax dollars.

On June 5, the Board voted 3-2 to approve an application for St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School even though the school’s sponsor, the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, has emphasized that religious indoctrination will play a prominent role.

Although the Office of the Attorney General had cautioned board members that approving the application would violate their oaths to uphold the state and U.S. constitutions, three members this week signed the contract for St. Isidore.

“The board members who approved this contract have violated the religious liberty of every Oklahoman by forcing us to fund the teachings of a specific religious sect with our tax dollars,” Drummond said.

“Today, Oklahomans are being compelled to fund Catholicism. Because of the legal precedent created by the Board’s actions, tomorrow we may be forced to fund radical Muslim teachings like Sharia law. In fact, Governor Stitt has already indicated that he would welcome a Muslim charter school funded by our tax dollars. That is a gross violation of our religious liberty. As the defender of Oklahoma’s religious freedoms, I am prepared to litigate this issue to the United States Supreme Court if that’s what is required to protect our Constitutional rights.”

Filed with the Oklahoma State Supreme Court, the lawsuit notes that the state Constitution expressly prohibits “sectarian control” of public schools. The litigation also argues that the would-be school impinges on religious liberty by violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Drummond said these constitutional protections ensure religious liberty, preventing a scenario in which Muslim Oklahomans would be forced to fund Christian and Jewish schools, Jewish Oklahomans would be forced to fund Christian and Muslim schools, and Oklahomans of no faith would be forced to fund religious schools for all faiths.

“There is no religious freedom in compelling Oklahomans to fund religions that may violate their own deeply held beliefs,” he said. “The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted Oklahoma’s Constitution clearly understood how best to protect religious freedom: by preventing the State from sponsoring any religion at all.”

In 2016, Oklahoma voters soundly rejected amending the Constitution to let public money be applied to sectarian organizations. Now, the offending board members are seeking to undo the will of the people by forcing Oklahoma tax revenue to fund religious teaching.

The lawsuit points out that the matter is particularly urgent for action by the Court. Proceeding with the nation’s first-ever, publicly funded religious charter school puts at risk more than $1 billion in federal education dollars that Oklahoma receives each year. To receive such funds, states must ensure compliance with applicable laws, including the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which clearly prohibits a religious public charter school.

“Oklahomans know all too well that our public schools face a slew of serious challenges,” Drummond said. “Given that reality, it is unconscionable that we would jeopardize desperately needed education dollars for the sake of a blatantly misguided endeavor.”

Taxpayers deserve much better, he said.

“Not only is this an irreparable violation of our individual religious liberty, but it is an unthinkable waste of our tax dollars,” said Drummond. “At a time when Oklahoma students underperform their peers across the country in every subject, why would we spend one penny of our tax dollars educating them on Catholicism, Sharia law or any other religious teaching? I would prefer we focus on reading proficiency so they can read the Bible at home with their family. That’s where religion is best taught: in homes and in churches, with the loving guidance of parents and pastors.”

Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
A: Main, news
Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
Long before Route 66, there was the Jefferson Highway. Route 66 was a federally funded, 2,448-mile highway that crossed the country going east and west from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, Californ...
A: Main, news
Jacob Foos re-hired as Eufaula City Manager
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
It was a surprise hire, but not a total surprise as former Eufaula City Manager Jacob Foos was rehired as Eufaula’s city manager. The hiring took place following an executive session at a special meet...
A: Main, news
Complications of finding a city manager
June 11, 2025
Jeb Jones resigned as city manager in April. He was hired in 2022 to replace Jacob Foos, who had resigned months earlier and became assistant city manager in the City of Shawnee. Andrea Weckmuel-ler B...
A: Main, news
LEA Poker Run Saturday
June 11, 2025
The Golden Eagle Poker Run, one of the most popular events on Lake Eufaula, is Saturday, June 14. This year’s theme is Pirates & Parrots, so get your crew and costumes ready for a day of high seas adv...
McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
A: Main, news
McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
June 11, 2025
The Oklahoma Press Association presented its Better Newspaper Contest Awards during the OPA Annual convention June 6-7, at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee. The top award a newspaper can r...
A: Main, news
Commissioners getting an increase in road spending
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, announced some good news and some bad news at the Monday morning Monthly County Commissioner meeting. First, the bad news, at least for those who oppose wind turbines in the ...
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Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
A: Main, news
Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently honored the late veteran William “Bill” Antrum Fox Jr. by naming a bridge after him. The William A. Fox Jr. Memorial Bridge is on SH 9 East at Nine M...
A: Main, news
Ten Mile Yard Sale this weekend
June 11, 2025
Bring an umbrella Bargain hunters set your alarms. The annual 10-milelong yard sale begins at 7 a.m. Sunday, stretching from the east end of Eufaula, down SH 9 east through Longtown and past Enterpris...
Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
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Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
June 11, 2025
Two Muskogee men charged with killing a Eufaula resident were ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing in district court at 10 a.m., Thursday, July 3. Suspects Kyren Omari Boulware, 19, and Michael ...
2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
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2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
June 11, 2025
Two people from Marshall, Texas were killed, and four others were injured in a harrowing four-vehicle pileup on U.S. 69 half a mile south of the Muskogee City Limits at about 2:20 p.m. on Monday, June...
Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
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Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
June 11, 2025
Managing Editor Jerry Fink of The Eufaula Indian Journal and the McIntosh County Democrat was inducted into the Oklahoma Press Association Half Century Club on Saturday, June 7 at the Grand in Shawnee...
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