Oklahoma Attorney General Seeks Court Order for Full Rejection Record in Ben Gamla Charter Case

Overview

• AG Gentner Drummond filed for a writ of mandamus asking an Oklahoma County judge to require the Statewide Charter School Board to issue a new denial letter listing all non-constitutional deficiencies.
• The board rejected Ben Gamla’s application this week based on Oklahoma’s requirement that charter schools be nonsectarian, pointing to a 2024 state supreme court ruling.
• Drummond alleges the board engineered its vote to focus solely on the school’s religious character to strengthen a forthcoming federal lawsuit by the school’s backers.
• The filing cites omitted issues including a jump from an initially described 40 students to a formal projection of 400 K–12 enrollees and questions about the applicant’s compliance with the parent-representative requirement.
• The proposal from the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation envisions a statewide online K–12 program combining secular coursework with daily Jewish religious studies, and supporters say they plan a federal challenge after a prior U.S. Supreme Court 4–4 split left the broader question unresolved.