Across the country, church leaders can and do run such schools, but most are run through separate nonprofits or management organizations, not the churches directly.

Rev. Faulkner could apply to open a charter school through a nonprofit organization separate from his church, but he said yesterday he's not interested in that approach.

"I just feel like it's not fair," he said. "We, as a religious institution, can certainly uphold the values of separation between church and state."

He said he was galvanized to file the suit after seeing an Arabic-language school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy, open in Brooklyn this fall. The public school was founded by a devout Muslim, but is not affiliated with Islam or any religious institution. Rev. Faulkner said he saw a connection between his would-be charter school and Khalil Gibran.

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