A federal judge in Oklahoma City has cleared the way for the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to pursue the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school, ruling that Oklahoma cannot exclude the school from its charter program solely because of its religious character.

U.S. District Judge David Russell issued a preliminary injunction Thursday preventing the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board from enforcing the state's requirement that charter schools be nonsectarian. Russell concluded that the restriction discriminates against otherwise eligible applicants based on religion and violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause.

Oklahoma charter schools are publicly funded and operate under state oversight, making the case a significant test of how constitutional protections for religious exercise apply when government funds are involved. The case also raises questions about the relationship between the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, which protects religious practice, and its Establishment Clause, which limits government involvement in promoting religion.

Ben Gamla had applied to establish a virtual charter school in Oklahoma, but the Statewide Charter School Board rejected the application in February. The board cited an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that had previously barred a proposed Catholic charter school from operating with public funds.

Russell, a federal judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, relied heavily on recent Supreme Court precedent concerning religious organizations and generally available public benefits. He specifically pointed to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision involving Maine's tuition assistance program, writing that Oklahoma had created a generally available opportunity to establish charter schools while excluding religious institutions from participating.

The ruling was welcomed by Ben Gamla and its attorneys at Becket, who argued that the Constitution does not allow Oklahoma to make charter schools available to other applicants while excluding them because they are religious. Daniel Chen, an attorney for the organization, said the decision gives Ben Gamla a "fair shot" to serve Oklahoma families.

The ruling was opposed by taxpayer and family intervenors defending Oklahoma's nonsectarian requirement. Attorneys associated with groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State argued that public schools should remain secular and described the decision as a major shift in how religious institutions could participate in publicly funded education.

The dispute follows a separate battle over the proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the state could not approve the Catholic charter school under Oklahoma's constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court later failed to resolve the issue after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself, resulting in a 4-4 split.

The Ben Gamla case could now continue through the federal courts and potentially return the broader question of religious charter schools to the Supreme Court. The immediate ruling is a preliminary injunction, meaning the underlying constitutional dispute has not yet reached a final judgment.