The big issue currently raising hackles in Oklahoma is whether a Catholic Church should be allowed to operate a publicly-funded virtual charter school.
Leave aside, for the moment, whether the state should be funding a religious school at all.
Leave aside, for now, the fact that multiple evaluations have reported that virtual schools get worse results than brick-and-mortar schools.
Leave aside, for now, the fact that Ohlahoma already has seven virtual schools already.
The state attorney general is opposed to it.
But Governor Kevin Stitt and the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual School Board approved the idea (3-2), so the issue will be resolved in court.
Governor Stitt just selected one of the Board’s members to be his top education advisor:
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma official who voted in favor of founding the nation’s first religious charter school will serve as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s next education secretary.
Nellie Tayloe Sanders, of Kingfisher, is the third member of the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to join the Stitt administration. She is the second to do so after approving a Catholic charter school in a landmark 3-2 vote last year. Stitt was a staunch advocate of the school.
As education secretary, Sanders will serve as the governor’s top adviser on school policy. She will be paid $25,000 a year for the position, according to the Governor’s Office.
“My goal is to empower parents with choices and support teachers in unleashing their full potential – moving beyond the constraints of politics and bureaucracy,” Sanders said in a statement Wednesday. “Governor Stitt’s commitment to educational freedom resonates deeply with me.”
Sanders resigned from her seat on the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board on Sunday in an email to Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, his office confirmed. The Senate leader had appointed Sanders to the board in February to oversee the seven Oklahoma charter schools that primarily teach online.
However, she won’t leave the board entirely. The education secretary holds a non-voting seat.
The board’s president, Robert Franklin, said the news of her appointment to the governor’s Cabinet caught him off guard.
“If you were asking me (about) a laundry list of colleagues that I thought had a seasoned background and a footprint in Oklahoma’s educational landscape, I wouldn’t have picked Mrs. Sanders,” Franklin said. “But I know she’s thoughtful. I know she’s kind. I know she’s an engaging person. So, I certainly wish her well.”
In other developments, the judge in the Catholic virtual charter school case stepped aside, because he had relationships with people on both sides of the issue.
Lawyers involved said the case was starting all over because the state board had entered into a contract with St. Isidore, and the board itself had new members.
One new board member said that the Catholic Church sponsoring the school would not provide a Catholic education, but the church disagreed.
Appointed Oct. 27, one of the new SVCSB members is Brian Shellem, a former Edmond mayoral candidate and the president of Advanced Automotive Equipment.
Shellem has also been appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt to serve on the new Statewide Charter School Board, which the Oklahoma Legislature created last session to replace the SVCSB on July 1. It will become the new board overseeing virtual charter schools and other charter schools.
Shellem said that although he was not a board member when the SVCSB decided to authorize St. Isidore, he supports more educational choices for students, as long as those choices meet the right educational standards and requirements.
“The (St. Isidore) contract is not to provide religious education, it’s to provide education and a curriculum that the state requires, and I don’t think they should be disqualified because they are a Catholic school,” Shellem said. “I equate it to if you go to a car wash and you pay $20 for a car wash and then they go, ‘Hey, we’re gonna give you for free the wheel package and the air freshener,’ and they don’t charge you, [now you’ve got] a $5 value, but we’re not charging you for it. The state’s not contracting them to teach religious education, but it happens to be in that environment. They’re getting contracted to teach the curriculum that’s required by the state.”
Throughout their application process, St. Isidore leaders have indicated that the school intends to provide students with a Catholic education.
Shellem said he believes charter schools are public schools, so he could understand how including the proverbial extra car wash package that is Catholic education could create some legal questions to be dealt with in court.
[Note: You may have seen this article Friday. I moved it because it was supposed to appear today.]
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The public’s tax dollars shouldn’t be used to fund ANY charter school, let alone a church charter school.
CHARTER SCHOOL FINANCIAL FRAUD: The impartial, non-political watchdog Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education issued a report warning that so much taxpayer money is being skimmed away from America’s genuine public schools and pocketed by private corporate charter school operators that the IG investigation declared that: “Charter schools and their management organizations pose a potential risk to federal funds even as they threaten to fall short of meeting goals.” It is billionaire hedge fund managers who are behind the charter school scam — they are skimming hundreds of millions of dollars from public schools and are betraying America’s public schools and the children of America.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING as a “public charter school”. Charter school operators spend a lot of taxpayer money telling taxpayers that charter schools are “public” schools — but they are not. As the Supreme Courts of Washington State and New York State have ruled, charter schools are actually private schools because THEY FAIL TO PASS THE MINIMUM TEST for being genuine public schools; that is — They aren’t run by school boards who are elected by, and therefore under the control of and accountable to voting taxpayers. All — ALL — charter schools are corporations run by private parties. Taxpayers have no say in how their tax dollars are spent in charter schools.
CHARTER STUDENTS LOSE GROUND: The Stanford University Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) — which is funded by pro-charter organizations — has reported that in the case of popular online charter schools, students actually lose ground in both reading and math — but online charter schools are the fastest-growing type of charter school because they make it easiest to skim away public tax dollars. CREDO has been conducting years-long research into the educational quality of charter schools and yet even this charter-school-funded research center’s findings are that in general charter schools don’t do any better academically than genuine public schools.
THE RACIAL RESEGREGATION of America’s school systems by the private charter school industry is so blatant and illegal that both the NAACP and ACLU have called for a stop to the formation of any more charter schools. The Civil Rights Project at UCLA summed it up, stating that charter schools are “a civil rights failure.” The catch-phrase “school choice” was concocted by racists following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that required racial integration in public schools. After that, racist organizations used racist politicians to conduct a decades-long attack that underfunded public schools and crippled their ability to provide the full measure of education and to “prove” that public schools were “failing”. That public school “failure” is an issue manufactured by racists organizations and politicians is well-documented in the book “The Manufactured Crisis”.
INDOCTRINATION: Charter schools provide the perfect environment for subtly (or not so subtly) weaving a political and/or social view into every lesson. Instead of a nationally shared perspective, America ends up with a fragmented view of what our nation is all about.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/03/29/report-the-department-of-education-has-spent-1-billion-on-charter-school-waste-and-fraud/#ab1fbdb27b64
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Agreed. Never!
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During the mayoral campaign Shellem said, “the best way to solve the issue of DEI is to open God’s word up and follow the teachings of Christ….DEI should D-I-E.”
Probably is a fan of Christopher Rufo and Pat Buchanan.
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Sounds like a good idea. Jesus was interested in helping out the poor and said the meek would inherit the earth. Don’t think Rufo fits my definition of meek.
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Nellie Tayloe Sanders has worked for 10 years at a center co-founded
by the Knights of Columbus. She is a graduate of Salve Regina University.
Questions about owners of charter schools who are also state education board members is similar to the review of board members from a religious sect, deciding on the introduction of tax money for their sect’s religious schools.
FYI- It is possible to disagree with my view without insulting me.
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Thank you for your informative posts
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That “center” was a hospice.
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Bob
You are incorrect. The Center is a disability services and support organization with $20 mil. in assets and income of $10 mil.
The 990 form (without downloading a PDF) that is posted is for 2023 without any info. listed.
I speculate (and, I could be wrong) that residents receive Social Security and Medicaid. In Ohio, state government provides additional revenue for this type of facility and/or disabled resident.
It seems possible that court decisions that allow religious organizations to discriminate e.g. Biel v St. James Catholic school (exempt from civil rights employment law) may apply, including the right to discriminate in admittance decisions. For example, religious adoption services have been determined to have that right.
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Bob,
My correction of your misunderstanding about the Center ($20 mil. in assets) is in moderation.
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I can’t wait!!! And in the meantime, use the Bat Signal to alert Batman! We’ll show these Catholic evil-doers who’s boss in Gotham City!!!
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The Gods were smiling on Gotham City, when they gave the city, Batman.
Gotham City has reproductive rights.
The taxpayers aren’t funding religious schools where women are taught their lives aren’t important because they are just fetus vessels. One of the things they don’t have to worry about in G.C. is exemptions from civil rights employment law.
Gotham City’s kids don’t feel obligated to pray with the coach on the public school football field.
There’s no right wing religious sect majority on the highest court in Gotham City.
There’s no Leonard Leo with almost $2 bil. to spend to advance the Trump/GOP party in G.C.
In Gotham City, the 3rd largest employer isn’t a religious sect, made so, gratis of taxpayers and the bishops’ conferences.
In G.C. there’s no Robert P George writing the Manhattan Declaration which intimidates the LGBTQ community.
Women are safe at 6 out of 6 hospitals in G.C. because right wing religious aren’t the owners. In G.C., when women want their prescriptions filled, the scripts are not held hostage by religionist pharmacists.
In G.C., both men and women (not just men) have their medications paid for by insurance companies because no Little Sisters of the Poor took a case to the biased, highest court.
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My reply will be in moderation for an indeterminate period of time despite having no triggering word (just triggering opinion?)
Out of curiosity, Bob, how long was your Gotham snark comment in moderation?
Teflon Bob.
Until Diane bans me like a book, I’ll keep saying what I have to say and unlike cowered commenters, I won’t apologize for the truth.
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BTW, the Wikipedia article about her quotes a profile in The Oklahoman saying that the Center for Family Love is a HOSPICE that does care for disabled persons. So, you are wrong about my being wrong, as usual.
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Horror of horrors, those terrible Catholics run a hospice where she worked. AND, this is REALLY terrible, the hospice had funding.
ROFL
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Whether posts go into moderation has nothing to do with Diane. It’s an arbitrary thing that WordPress does based on its own undisclosed rules. No one knows what those are except WordPress. It’s a mystery, like the Trinity and transubstantiation, lol. It might surprise you to know, Linda, that Diane has a freaking life and sometimes she is doing other things than checking WordPress to see what is in moderation. I’m surprised that stuff comes out of moderation so quickly. In order to do that, she has to open a separate part of WordPress and scroll down and choose Comments and then check them all–tedious and time-consuming. So stop with the Teflon and teacher’s pet bullshit. Diane and I have known one another for a long, long time, and I have enormous respect for her and consider her a dear friend. I think that that respect is mutual. We don’t always agree,, she and I, but we typically do. Oh, and BTW, Diane has pointed out to you NUMEROUS TIMES that she respects your commentary but that her wife is a Catholic and perhaps you should tone it TF down.
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Thanks, Bob, for explaining that WordPress usually controls moderation. Its rules are opaque to me. Initially, I thought that comments with more than one link went into moderation. That was true, but many comments with no links also went into moderation.
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Nellie Tayloe Sanders, Senior V.P. of Philanthropy – how she assesses the decision behind her appointment by Gov. Stitt (her children attend a private Catholic school) (Tulsa World, 2-13-2023)
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Tulsa World, article title, “Government sanctioning and taxpayer funding for 1st religious charter school in U.S.” The article reports that Sanders said it was not a coincidence that she was chosen for the Catholic school test case- St. Isidore.
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Blog readers can visit the site of Center of Family Love and draw their own conclusions about the services that it provides.
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It’s a hospice. So, it provides care that emphasizes the comfort and dignity of patients. It looks as though the organization’s philosophy is not to try to train patients into becoming neurotypical but, rather, in accepting their differences. And the center has the funding necessary to do its work, which is doubtless in large part due to its former Director of Philanthropy, because that’s what a person in such a role does. Uniquely, Linda, you can look at something so positive–at an organization doing such good in the world for an underserved population, and see something nefarious and sinister. Who’s behind it? Which Master of Evil? Lex Luthor? Brainiac? The Joker? No, worse. The Catholic Church!!!! OMG, they are helping cognitively challenged people! Stop them quick, Batman, Superman!!! Maybe this is a job for the whole Justice League!!! But fortunately, Linda will not stop rooting out such baddies. OMG, there’s one under the bed now!!!!
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False alarm. It wasn’t a Bishop under my bed. Just my cat. Whew!!!
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Bob, that’s a good one!
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From The Org
Sanders has had a career in advertising and philanthropy. Former employers, Conde Nast, Niche Media, Brides Magazine
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Bob
About the hospice claim- if your single source of info is what a journalist reported Sanders said, that’s on you.
Speculating- I can’t deduce what a person with Sanders’ work history would bring to hospice care (it’s certainly unrelated to her title, what the Center’s site describes as its history and programs and, the bio that lists her former employers) but, it may be similar to what she brings to a role as education advisor to the Governor.
Your insults, gaslighting and deliberate misdirection does not elevate the blog nor advance the fight against the documented enemy of public education i.e. the highly successful politicking for school choice by Catholic Conferences.
It is Sanders, not the Center, who is aiding the Okla. Dept. of Ed. in achieving tax funding for religious schools ( a case that will go to SCOTUS and set precedence in all 50 states). Fortunately, there is media (Tulsa World) that cares about reality and reported it via an interview with Sanders that relied on objectively obtained info.
If your point is that it is advisable for democracy, separation of church and state and civil rights for Gov. Stitt to appoint a person to steer the Okla. Dept of Ed. who (1) says her appt. was not coincidence (2) whose children attend Catholic schools and (3) who is on record voting to approve the state’s hiring of ADF for its representation in the St. Isidore case, we will have to agree to disagree.
Do you favor tax funding for religious schools? If yes, it’s understandable that you and I are working at cross purposes. If the answer is, no, then, is it your argument that Catholic organizations including Notre Dame are uninvolved in the the process of getting tax dollars for religious schools? (If the answer is no, you should review the record and not rely on a single source.)
IMO, education experts should be asked the question directly, what role, if any, have Catholic Conferences, Catholic organizations and influential Catholics played in getting tax dollars for religious schools. Would you agree that it would clarify the argument you present?
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“About the hospice claim- if your single source of info is what a journalist reported Sanders said, that’s on you.”
As you suggested, I went to their website and read it.
“Speculating- I can’t deduce what a person with Sanders’ work history would bring to hospice care.”
She worked in advertising. Then she worked for this organization in fundraising. This is not a leap.
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(1) Do you want SCOTUS to approve religious charter schools? (2) Do you favor tax-funded vouchers for religious schools?
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Orwellian doublespeak:
“My goal is to empower parents with choices and support teachers in unleashing their full potential – moving beyond the constraints of politics and bureaucracy,”
Lots of teachers on here will no doubt be celebrating because those lucky teachers in Oklahoma are finally being supported in being able to unleash their full potential without the pesky “constraints of politics and bureaucracy”.
What’s not to love when Republicans are so committed to “educational freedom”?
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well said
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No, H*LL NO!
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The South Dakota budget surplus is $96.8. mil.
South Dakota GOP state Rep. Phil Jensen said the following in defense of his recent vote against $578,000 for school lunches for in-need students.
” (Apostle Paul) didn’t issue that directive (to care for the needy) to the government…He issued it to the (Catholic) Church,…we are the hands and feet of Jesus…we can meet the needs of this effort…schools (should) have a fundraiser for this.” (Keloland Media Group, 1-22-2024, “House Panel Nixes State School-Lunch Subsidy”) Jensen’s view prevailed in committee vote.
What Jensen said is important in light of taxpayers making Catholic organizations the nation’s 3rd largest employer through the organizations’ usurpation of government function, a success achieved by the well-funded and organized political efforts of the Catholic Conferences (the bishops’ political arm).
The next, logical extension of Rep. Jensen’s reasoning is schools are not the role of government and shouldn’t be funded.
A member of Notre Dame’s faculty who is a Manhattan Institute Fellow (Koch) is the most influential legal scholar advancing religious charter schools. The professor is a friend of Amy Comey Barrett.
When the public refuses to fight on every front, the American Catholic Church and those advancing it, what can the US expect for separation of church and state? When the public is unwilling to identify the political whale, the Catholic Church, as an enemy of democracy, they wave the white flag of surrender. When the public acquiesces to the Catholic church’s right wing view, the US submits to Catholic theocratic domination and, economically, to greater concentration of wealth.
Jensen’s statement corroborates what Diane has often repeated -the anti-abortion campaign is not about life, it is pro-birth.
I call it forced pregnancy and it repeats the pattern of the Great Hunger in Ireland when 1,000,000 Irish died of starvation.
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S.D. state Rep. Terwilliger joined Jensen in voting against school lunch funding for in-need students. He is on the St. Joseph School Council. I think the Council is for an Indian residential school which 13 years ago was involved in a court case in which 8 students alleged sexual abuse.
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No, it’s that simple. No.
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We either have a constitutional prohibition against state supported religious institutions or we don’t. This was once a deeply etched line that has been, strategically, slowly erased. How many public school districts across the nation are providing bussing, stadiums, buildings, texts & other public resources, (often resold by the recipient school w\o reimbursement to the public) to religious schools, yet have to constantly beg the residents to fund their school, causing citizens to pay more in taxes? I liken this to the morass & peril this nation enters when funding religious states & supplying weapons. No good ever comes from it.
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Thank you for adding comment.
Jefferson warned, in every age, in every country, the priest aligns with the despot.
A right wing Catholic activist, Tim Busch (founder of Legatus, an association of CEO’s who are Catholic), wrote about the remarkable similarities between Catholicism and Charles Koch’s recent book.
In some states, the Koch’s AFP co-hosted school choice rallies in state capitols with Catholic Conferences.
The credentials of the executive director of Colorado’s Catholic Conference are not unique. She was formerly an executive with EdChoice and she worked in the Koch network.
School choice legislation in Indiana and Ohio was initiated and passed as a result of Catholic initiatives.
The SCOTUS decision in Biel v. St.James Catholic school, exempts religious schools from civil rights employment law.
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Jim
I replied but, the comment has been in moderation for some time.
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Because the topic is religious schools and the obvious follow-up, taxpayer funded discrimination against employees, parents and students based on the sect’s beliefs, the following may be of interest to blog readers who are LGBTQ. It is about St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame. NCR on-line reports, “Catholic women’s college reverses decision to admit trans students.”
The school’s decision had come under fire from a bishop (so much for the clout of liberal Catholics in Catholic institutions e.g. universities?).
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Not surprising- Georgetown didn’t rescind the job offer to Koch’s Ilya Shapiro.
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For those who are interested, a key word search- how much money does the Catholic Church and/or its organizations get from the government-
More than 10 years ago (before the real push), 62% of Catholic Charities’ support came from local, state and federal governments.
Charitable donors avoid taxes which should also be factored in because it lessens revenue for the government to allocate to social services.
When religious charter schools are approved, there will be a dramatic increase for the Catholic church and/or its linked organizations
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For much of the material below, the source is Tulsa World, 2-13-2023, “Government sanctioning and taxpayer funding for 1st religious charter school in US”
Nellie Tayloe Sanders has worked for 10 years at a Center that was co-founded by the Knights of Columbus. Her title is Senior VP of Philanthropy at the Center of Family Love. (Those blog readers who are interested can read what the Center does at its website.) Her children attend a private Catholic school. Tulsa World, in reference to a question asked of Sanders wrote, “was it a coincidence that she was asked to join the statewide virtual charter school as it prepares to tackle this Catholic school test case. Sanders didn’t hesitate for a second before responding. ‘It’s absolutely not a coincidence.’ ”
Anticipate that Bob, if he replies to this comment, will attempt a spin accompanied by ridicule. It’s up to readers to form critical judgments about the significance of Tulsa World’s reporting. It’s evident to me that some journalists have honesty in their veins like those at Tulsa World and at Keloland Media Group.
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