CHANCE FOR SOME: Cornerstone administrator Monica Daniels said it was "interesting for parents to have the chance to choose the Christian environment that we offer." But LGBT students require not apply.
Last week, we noted that the Arkansas Department of Education had released a video promoting Cornerstone Christian Academy, a K-12 independent school in the southeast Arkansas town of Tillar.
It's not uncommon for a state agency to promote a new law or policy initiative, which this video does by highlighting the voucher program readily available under Arkansas LEARNS, the state's new education overhaul. But what is uncommon is for the state's education department to utilize public resources to create such a specific ad for a private school. As Josh Cowen, a teacher at Michigan State University and a nationally prominent specialist on education policy, informed us:" [U] sually they pretend it's about adult choice more broadly. What's less common-- what I've yet to see, in fact-- is a state agency leaning this greatly into promo of personal education. And Christian education at that."
The openly funded promotion for an independent school is made more uncomfortable offered the spiritual association: Cornerstone uses a Bob Jones University curriculum known for mentor "young-Earth creationism," the belief that the world and universe are only a few thousand years old. It needs trainees to take a Christian research studies class and go to chapel. The application asks parents about church association and about their kid's "personal experience and faith in Jesus Christ."
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The application likewise asks about whether a trainee has ever been involved with "sexual immorality" and requires that moms and dads consent to "maintain the standard concepts of biblical morality in my home."
I left a message with the school's administrator to learn whether its admissions policies clearly victimized LGBT trainees. I never ever heard back, however after a little more digging on their website, I discovered a trainee handbook that straight states LGBT students are not allowed to go to the school:
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The significance the Bible places on the seriousness of sexual immorality, and our commitment to a "Christ-centered" environment demands certain requirements for admittance to CCA. Students will NOT be allowed to attend CCA who professes any sort of sexually unethical way of life or a honestly wicked way of life including however not restricted to: indiscrimination, homosexuality, transgenderism, etc.
This sort of policy is not uncommon at some Christian independent schools, but it raises some tough concerns about the state's coupon program. LEARNS coupons are funneling someplace in the neighborhood of $419,000 in public funds to Cornerstone this academic year, part of $32.5 million predicted to be spent on independent school vouchers throughout the state. It stays uncertain whether the Cornerstone promo video was made directly or moneyed by the education department, which has not responded to questions.
The video offers vouchers as a vehicle of adult option, but ultimately it's the schools themselves that decide who can-- or can not-- attend. The only obligation these schools face in regards to admission is that they can not discriminate based on race, color or national origin, which would violate federal law. But unlike standard public schools, they are under no responsibility to take all comers.
They are totally free to victimize LGBT trainees. They are complimentary to enforce religious requirements. They do not have to confess trainees who have a hard time academically or have habits problems. They do not have to offer needed services for handicapped students. We have no chance of knowing how many students might be declined from applying to a school, or what the reasons were. There is no openness and there are nearly no guidelines. To receive an openly funded coupon under Arkansas LEARNS, a student needs to get admission to a private school-- however the whole admission procedure is an unregulated Wild West..
Kicking a trainee out of a private school also leaves large latitude to the schools. To expel a coupon student, an independent school needs to follow clear, pre-established disciplinary treatments. So long as they do not discriminate based on race, color or national origin, schools are totally free to follow their own policies.
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Amongst the 94 private schools participating in the voucher program, numerous are Christian. It's likely that a considerable number, like Cornerstone, close their doors to LGBT trainees. That has been discovered to be the case in coupon programs in Wisconsin and Indiana. The vouchers are publicly moneyed, however not all schools are open to the general public: The vaunted principle of school choice is, in reality, the school's option, and some families may discover themselves locked out.
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