Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Oklahoma Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, explained his opposition to religious charter schools.
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00:00I think they went very much as predicted. There are some justices that are focused on the free exercise component of the First Amendment, and there are justices focused on the Establishment Clause.
00:12And just the fact of, you know, the whole argument is a separation of turning the state, correct?
00:18Yes.
00:19Talk to us about that.
00:20Right. In this instance, 47 states and the District of Columbia have statutes that say effectively that charter schools are created by the state, funded by the state, overseen by the state.
00:33Its teachers are eligible for public school retirement. Its boards are subject to open records, open meetings.
00:42In every essence, every indicia of a governmental actor. And that's the position that the state of Oklahoma has taken. We'll see how the court rules on that.
00:54How confident do you feel in the court taking your side, given what they said?
00:58No, I think that based on the questions, I think the court is split. How it breaks down, is it a 4-4, 5-3? I can't tell you that. But clearly there are identified different factions on the court.
01:11How do you respond to the suggestion that if this action is upheld, that the religious group should be treated as second-class citizens not being offered?
01:21That's simply not true. In all states that offer tuition assistance or through tax credits, Oklahoma being one, we offer three times as much to the parent to take their child to a public school.
01:36No, so in Oklahoma, every parent can send their child to a private parochial school. We give them $7,500 per student.
01:51And just have you state your name and spell it, your title, your name and title.
01:58Oh, Gettner Drummond, Attorney General, Oklahoma, G-E-N-T-N-E-R-D-R-U-M-M-O-N-D.
02:05And just, you know, you're hoping that the justices will, in fact, have a separation of church and state, and just state your stance on it again?
02:14No, I think that it's my request that this is a bridge too far, that we cannot have non-secular charter schools.
02:23They have to be, they must be non-secular charter schools.