美国国家公共电台 NPR--Oklahoma board OKs what would be the nation's first publicly funded religious school

Oklahoma board OKs what would be the nation's first publicly funded religious school

Transcript¹

An Oklahoma school board has approved what would be the first taxpayer-funded religious school. It's a virtual school and opponents say they'll take legal action against it.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Oklahoma has approved what would be the nation's first publicly funded religious school. The online charter school would be run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa. Robby Korth, news director at KOSU in Oklahoma City, is with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Robby.

ROBBY KORTH, BYLINE²: Good morning, Michel. Thanks for having me.

MARTIN: Glad to have you. So religious schools can get some public funding now. How is this different?

KORTH: Well, so it really all has to do with scale. Most of the existing funding that can go to religious schools takes the form of, like, subsidies³ or grants or tuition vouchers⁴. This school would be completely funded by the taxpayers⁵, and that part is totally unprecedented⁶.

MARTIN: And it's also my understanding that if religious schools do get some public funding, it has to be segregated⁸ from completely religious activities, raising the obvious question here about the separation of church and state. Did that come up in the conversation around the approval process here?

KORTH: Yeah. So school choice advocates argued hard that a recent Supreme⁹ Court case out of Montana could set a precedent⁷ for the Oklahoma school. The conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in that case that a publicly funded K through 12 scholarship program could apply to religious schools, and it didn't violate the Constitution. But supporters argue that that ruling should apply similarly to religious and private charter schools.

But the opponents of all this, including Oklahoma's own attorney general, who is a Republican, are arguing for separation. Essentially¹⁰, they say separation of church and state means the new school shouldn't even exist. Regardless, there is sure to be a yearslong legal fight over all of this, and it could end up again in the conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

MARTIN: Does your reporting indicate whether this is intended to be a test case to see if the high court would greenlight religious public schools?

KORTH: Yes, absolutely. Catholic officials say they want to improve access to Catholic education around the state. You know, there are hundreds of small towns around Oklahoma that - they might have a parish, but they don't have a school. So families have to drive hours both ways to get a Catholic education, so it's a big deal for them. It's also a revenue generator¹¹. The state would essentially pay the tuition of all of these students to get a Catholic education, even if it's virtual. And so this was approved by the statewide virtual charter school board, and it's appointed by the governor and other GOP leaders around the state. So this was a highly political move in favor of school choice movements here in Oklahoma.

MARTIN: So the school is meant to be called St. Isidore's. When might it start operating?

KORTH: So the goal is to have it start operating in fall 2024. And the church estimates that they're going to have hundreds of students in the beginning. But that legal challenge - it's sure to come, and organizations like the ACLU have vowed¹² to sue the state to block the school from ever enrolling¹³ students. One interesting note is that the Republican attorney general of Oklahoma - he's considered to be a more moderate Republican - says he doesn't like the school, and he actually won't be providing legal support to the state to defend it.

MARTIN: That's Robby Korth, and he's the news director at KOSU in Oklahoma City. Robby, thanks so much.

KORTH: Thank you for having me on.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

8 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 enrolling   

v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They lashed out at the university enrolling system. 他们猛烈抨击大学的招生制度。 来自辞典例句
• You're enrolling in a country club, Billy. 你是注册加入乡村俱乐部了，比利。 来自辞典例句