A Harlem Church Sues to Operate Charter School

A Harlem church attempting to operate its own charter school has filed a law suit against the state in the hopes of overturning a law that bans the practice as a violation of church and state.

The Gotham Legal Foundation filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a Harlem minister Rev. Michel J. Faulkner of New Horizon Church Ministry in Harlem. In his complaint, Faulkner says "The New York Charter Schools Act is nothing more than an attempt by the State to erect a barrier for those who express their religious beliefs from access to public resources that are generally available to all others, so long as they do not publicly express their religious affiliation or beliefs."

The executive director of the foundation representing Faulkner is Republican activist Jay Golub, who ran as a Democrat in the primary race for Public Advocate in 2005.

"It’s purely discriminatory for the state to say a religious person can’t do a secular job,” Golub just told me.