OCPA: AG protects vulnerable children, ends anti-Christian discrimination

OCPA: AG protects vulnerable children, ends anti-Christian discrimination

OKLAHOMA CITY (December 3, 2020)—Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, issued the following statement today regarding Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter’s opinion declaring that the State Department of Education exceeded its authority by adding new, burdensome regulations to the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program--regulations that effectively barred multiple faith-based schools from serving those students:

“Today, Attorney General Hunter restored educational opportunity for some of Oklahoma’s most vulnerable children and put an end to the State Department of Education’s anti-Christian discrimination, which barred certain schools from participating in the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program.

“Under State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister’s leadership, the OSDE unilaterally rewrote state law to prevent vulnerable children, including students with special needs and foster children, from attending schools that best suited their individual needs. Attorney General Hunter deserves highest praise for protecting these children and standing up to this attempt by Superintendent Hofmeister and her general counsel to discriminate against Oklahomans of faith. In doing so, the Attorney General has ensured that Oklahoma students and schools are treated with the respect they deserve.”

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs is a free-market think tank that works to advance principles and policies that support free enterprise, limited government, individual initiative, and personal responsibility.