A federal court has temporarily cleared the way for the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to participate in Oklahoma’s publicly funded charter school programme, dealing a new blow to the state’s policy of excluding religious schools.
U.S. District Judge David L. Russell ruled on 24 September that Oklahoma could not continue applying its nonsectarian requirement to exclude Ben Gamla solely because of the school’s religious character while the lawsuit proceeds.
The ruling is a preliminary injunction rather than a final resolution of the underlying case.
Judge Says Religious Character Cannot Be the Sole Reason for Exclusion
At the centre of the dispute is Oklahoma’s requirement that charter schools operate on a nonsectarian basis and not be affiliated with religious organisations.
Judge Russell found that applying that provision to Ben Gamla because of its religious identity raised constitutional concerns under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The court said the school had suffered a concrete injury through its exclusion from a publicly available charter programme.
The order prevents the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board from enforcing the religious exclusion against Ben Gamla while the federal case continues.
Ben Gamla Was Rejected Earlier This Year
The federal case followed a decision by the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board to reject Ben Gamla’s application.
The board voted in February to deny the application, citing an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling from 2024 involving another religious charter school. According to the board, that state-court precedent prevented religious charter schools from participating in Oklahoma’s charter programme.
Ben Gamla subsequently challenged the decision in federal court, arguing that the state could not exclude it from the charter programme because of its religious character.
The Case Follows the Earlier Catholic Charter Dispute
The latest ruling comes after a separate legal battle involving St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.
In 2023, the Oklahoma charter board approved St. Isidore’s application, but Attorney General Gentner Drummond challenged the approval. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the school’s participation in the state charter system.
The dispute later reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices were evenly divided. That left the lower court’s decision in place without producing a nationwide ruling resolving the constitutional questions raised by the case.
New Ruling Could Have Wider Legal Implications
It remains unclear how the Ben Gamla decision will affect the earlier St. Isidore dispute.
The two cases involve different schools and legal proceedings, but both centre on whether religious organisations can be excluded from a publicly funded charter programme because they are religious.
Judge Russell’s order places the issue back before the federal courts, where Ben Gamla’s constitutional claims will continue to be considered.
Becket Says the State’s Policy Cannot Stand
The National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
Daniel Chen, an attorney representing the school, said the ruling showed that Oklahoma could not make religious identity the basis for excluding a charter applicant while allowing other privately operated schools to participate.
“The Constitution doesn’t permit the state to welcome every kind of charter school except a religious one,” Chen said in a statement released by Becket.
The legal organisation has described the case as a challenge to Oklahoma’s policy of excluding faith-based schools from the charter programme.
Oklahoma Has Defended Its Charter School Rules
The state has maintained that its charter school policy must comply with Oklahoma law and existing judicial precedent.
In February, the Statewide Charter School Board said its rejection of Ben Gamla was based primarily on the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 2024 decision concerning St. Isidore. Attorney General Gentner Drummond has also argued that the board must follow applicable legal requirements when assessing charter applications.
That position is now being tested against the federal constitutional arguments raised by Ben Gamla.
Appeal Could Take the Dispute to a Higher Court
The latest order does not end the litigation. The state has 30 days to appeal the federal court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, according to Becket.
For now, the preliminary injunction allows Ben Gamla’s challenge to proceed without the state enforcing its religious exclusion against the school.
The case could therefore become another significant test of how religious freedom protections apply when religious organisations seek access to publicly funded education programmes.
