In March, two years after the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a proposed Catholic Charter school in Oklahoma, a new Jewish school from Florida sued the state charter school board to make its own case.
So, whether tax dollars should be used to pay for a publicly funded religious education is an open question in the courts, again. The first round of hearings in federal Western District Court of Oklahoma was last week.
During a recent News on 6/News9 primary runoff debate, Republican candidate for governor Mike Mazzei indicated his support for the idea. His reason: Because President Donald Trump supports it.
"This is one of the big differences between Drummond and myself," Mazzei said, pointing to his opponent's lawsuit in 2023, which led to the end of St. Isidore Catholic Charter School in state and federal courts in the following years. The Trump administration had filed court briefs supporting the school.
Mazzei's opponent, Gentner Drummond, is also the incumbent State Attorney General. He defended his lawsuit, calling the Catholic school unconstitutional.
"I took an oath…to uphold the federal Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution, and the Oklahoma Constitution leaves no ambiguity," Drummond said. "We shall not fund any religious school."
The Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed with him in a 6-2 majority ruling in 2024. When the case arrived before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2025, the bench was split 4-4, allowing the state's decision to stand.
Mazzei also said states — and parents — ought to have more options to educate their children. Then, he used the remaining time in his 30-second response to take a few jabs at his opponent.
"He does like being the darling of the liberal teachers unions, because they won't support the reforms that will get us out of being 49th in education," he said of Drummond. "And he won't support moving school board elections to the general election date in November so conservative Oklahoma parents can have more of a say in the leadership of their school districts."
And because a good primary runoff debate isn't complete without at least one wild extrapolation meant to prove a point, Drummond sent his own dagger in response, conflating the religious school issue with Mazzei's support of the United Arab Emirates-backed Aluminum smelter planned in Inola.
"Mr. Mazzei is supporting the Muslim monarchy," Drummond said. "We can anticipate he'll also support Sharia schools. I stood between that and the freedom to worship God when you wish, with whom you wish and how you wish."
Mazzei escalated further.
"Part of the reason President Trump supports me is he knows I will ban Sharia law in the state of Oklahoma and designate the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council of American Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations," he said.