Two Christian schools in minnesota are fighting the state after a long-running program was rewritten to exclude other schools. The schools contend that They believe that Minnesota Commissioner of Education Willie Jett and the Minnesota Department of Education have discriminated against them for their religious beliefs. The program allowed high school students to take classes for free at a private or public college for nearly 40 years.
The program is designed to help students find a college that aligns with their needs before they enroll. Since its inception, around 60,000 students have taken advantage of the program. Fox News Digital spoke to Diana Thomson, who is representing the schools against the state. She works for the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Christians in religious liberty cases.
“The Supreme Court has said over the last decade that, especially in the context of education, the government does not have to offer funding to private schools,” Thomson said. “It runs public schools. It doesn’t have to offer funding to private schools, but once it does, it can’t exclude religious schools on the basis of their religious status, their religious exercise.”
She added additional context to her words; ” So, there are cases around the country where governments are trying to get around this, what the Supreme Court said, and exclude religious schools from education programs. This is the only one I’m aware of that is a dual enrollment program.” In the case, they found that officials routinely singled out Christians for mockery.
The suit claims that government workers admitted that the Amendment’s design was to force Crown and Northwestern to abandon statements of faith. Officials referred to this practice as “creepy.” Thomson continued, “One of the things that you heard from the lawmakers … in the discovery process. … was .. ‘These other schools don’t require a statement of faith. Why can’t Crown and Northwestern just do what they do? Why can’t they just adopt their religious beliefs?”
The lawsuit alleges, “From proposal through passage, the Amendment targeted Plaintiffs.” “Staff admitted the proposal was motivated by objections to any admissions standards requiring students to be ‘actively practicing [their] Christian faith.’”the suit explained.” MDE also wanted to eliminate any messaging that ‘may communicate to a potential student that they are not welcome to take a PSEO course … because of [the school’s] biblical worldview.’
She says this case is not about the “separation of church and state, it’s about choice.”She explained that “It’s about giving students a choice of where they want to go to school. Students have the choice to go to the University of Minnesota, to any public or private school in Minnesota that offers this program.” Thomson stated, “Some students want to choose schools that establish a community that allows them to carry out their faith. That’s what this program allows. It doesn’t establish a religion for the government to offer choice.”
“I think it’s important for governments to understand that they can’t exclude religious schools and religious entities from participating in government programs just because of their religious exercise,” the lawyer concluded. “Membership in religious organizations is a core constitutional right that is protected by the First Amendment. For the government to interfere in that is a blatant violation of the Constitution.”