OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (BP) – A Jewish foundation is suing to open the nation’s first religious charter school in Oklahoma, following the failed attempt of a Catholic diocese to do the same in 2023.
The National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation appealed Aug. 5 in federal court for the right to open a religious charter school in Oklahoma, where state law bans public funding for religious schools, which is typical nationwide.
Peter Deutsch, who launched the Ben Gamla foundation in Oklahoma in 2025, said religious schools should be able to receive public funds on par with other specialty institutions.
“Oklahoma grants charters to private schools of all types, including schools focused on Native American traditions or pretty much any other philosophy – just so long as the school is not religious,” Deutsch said after court arguments Aug. 5. “That type of religious discrimination must end. The court should reject the state’s religious ban and let Ben Gamla compete with other private schools on equal terms.”
Concurrently, Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville is awaiting a January 2027 trial in its attempt to open a Christian charter school in Tennessee, which would also be a first. There, the academy filed suit in November 2025 after the Knox County Board of Education rejected the academy’s application to open a tuition-free, Christ-centered charter school.
In Oklahoma, the non-profit law firm of Becket represents Ben Gamla in the case of National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, Inc. v. Shellem.
“Oklahoma makes room in its charter program for schools of all shapes and sizes, from those focused on science and fine arts to language immersion and classical education,” Becket counsel Daniel Chen said in a press release after arguments in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. “The one it refuses to make room for is a faith-based school. That is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and the state deserves a failing grade for it.”
Deutsch also founded in 2006 the Ben Gamla Charter School Foundation, which does not specify Jewish in its title, and now operates four charter schools in Florida, offering secular curriculums incorporating Hebrew, Israeli history and Jewish culture.
The foundation’s efforts follow the failed attempt of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School (SISCVS) to open in Oklahoma in 2023 what would have been the first religious charter school in the state. St. Isidore took its fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, which deadlocked 4-4 in its ruling, leaving in place the state’s high court ruling against the school. Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself in the ruling.
Several groups have opposed an explicitly Jewish school in Oklahoma, including Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Education Law Center, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
“By refusing to approve what would have been the nation’s first religious public school, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board is protecting Oklahomans’ religious freedom, public education, and church-state separation,” the coalition composed of the groups said in a joint statement after the charter school board issued its decision. “As the Oklahoma Supreme Court recently reaffirmed, charter schools are public schools that must be secular and open to all students. We’re proud to be part of a large and diverse group of Oklahomans and people nationwide who are committed to defending America’s secular public education system.”
But Becket said a poll it conducted shows a majority of Americans think religious groups should be treated the same as secular groups when they serve the community, although the poll cited such outreaches as soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
“According to Becket’s 2025 Religious Freedom Index, 76 percent of Americans believe religious organizations that serve the community should be just as eligible to receive government funding as non-religious organizations that provide the same services,” Becket said. The law firm expects a ruling in the Oklahoma case in the coming weeks.
In Florida, state Attorney General James Uthmeier issued an unsolicited ruling declaring the state would overlook its own constitution and allocate public funds for religious charter schools. The state’s constitution violates and misinterprets the Establishment Clause of U.S. Constitution regarding the separation of church and state, Uthmeier said in announcing his decision April 2 on Twitter. But the decision is not accessible on his website myfloridalegal.com.
“Florida has broadly authorized any ‘individual, teachers, parents, a group of individuals, a municipality, or a legal entity’ to apply to create a charter school. Yet it requires that any charter school ‘shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and operations,’” Uthmeier wrote. “This blanket exclusion of all religious entities also violates the First Amendment.”
