Leaders of Tulsa’s Jewish community have expressed surprise and unease about a potential Jewish online charter school they said was introduced without local input.
The Jewish Federation of Tulsa, along with local congregations, released a statement Tuesday pushing back against Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School’s application to the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board.
“We are deeply concerned that an external Jewish organization would pursue such an initiative in Oklahoma without first engaging in meaningful consultation with the established Oklahoma Jewish community,” the statement read.
Founded by former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, the Ben Gamla Charter School Foundation operates several English-Hebrew charter schools south Florida, though the curriculum is secular. Deutsch appeared before the statewide board on Monday to make his case for expanding the school to Oklahoma while adding a religious component.
“There are very few opportunities for Jewish education in the state,” Deutsch told the board.
Joe Roberts, executive director of Tulsa’s Jewish Federation, disagreed with that assertion.
“That’s not the case,” Roberts said. “I’m sitting across the hall from a Jewish day school right now that provides both Hebrew and Judaics to our children in Tulsa.”
Roberts said his counterparts in Oklahoma City were also not consulted about Ben Gamla’s application.
“We would like to see the state charter school board take a step back and to request that a consultation happens between the applicant and the local Jewish community,” he said.
Roberts also said the application raises concerns about separation of church and state.
Statewide Charter School Board Chairman Brian Shellem acknowledged the “elephant in the room” regarding another religious school application that was approved by the board only to face legal scrutiny later on.
The proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Charter School was ruled unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2024, a decision that was affirmed by a tie in the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
In a statement, Ben Gamla acknowledged the legal precedent around funding religious schools with taxpayer money, but characterized the SCOTUS ruling as “providing no answer on the constitutional questions.”
Deutsch argued that religious schools “cannot be shut out of state programs just because they are religious,” according to the statement.
The Statewide Charter School Board is scheduled to meet again on Feb. 19.
