The American Principles Project (APP), released a report that actions by the Department of Education have “unfairly” targeted Christian colleges and universities while ignoring Ivy League schools. The document found that almost 70 percent of the actions involved faith-based and career schools. This is even though those schools represent less than ten percent of students across America.
According to the report, ” Created with the implicit purpose of advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s woke agenda, the Department’s Office of Enforcement also targeted two of the nation’s most prominent Christian universities, Grand Canyon University and Liberty University, which resulted in record-level fines worth more than all penalties imposed over the past seven years combined.”
Trump has vowed to shutter the Department of Education, Breitbart News reported on November 12. He said “And one other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C. and sending all education and education work and needs back to the States. We want them to run the education of our children because they’ll do a much better job of it. You can’t do worse.”
Trump has selected Linda McMahon to serve as Secretary of the Department of Education. He said in a statement “For the past four years, as the Chair of the Board at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Linda has been a fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights, working hard at both AFPI and America First Works (AFW) to achieve Universal School Choice in 12 States, giving children the opportunity to receive an excellent education, regardless of zip code or income.”
The APP study found that, 12 Christian colleges have been targeted with penalties or are no longer allowed to receive federal student aid. APP Policy Director Jon Schweppe said in a statement, For the last four years, Democrats have been busy weaponizing every part of the federal government to target their opponents.” He went on to say “While major assaults from agencies like the Department of Justice have taken most of the headlines, we should not ignore similarly corrupt efforts in other agencies as well.”
He continued by saying, ” As our report details, the Biden-Harris Department of Education has been engaged in a long-running scheme to punish Christian colleges that are ideologically opposed to the left’s agenda. The unfair targeting of these institutions has been egregious, and it needs to stop immediately.” The APP found that the average fine for a Christian school regarding a Clery Act violation was $815,000. For public and private institutions it was $228,571.
Other Christian Schools have also faced federal oppression. As we reported earlier, two Christian schools appeared in Court Monday along with their lawyers to sue the State of Minnesota. They believe that Minnesota Commissioner of Education Willie Jett and the Minnesota Department of Education have discriminated against them for their religious beliefs. The controversy stems from a law banning high school students from enrolling in programs at universities that require a statement of faith from their students.
Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Opportunities 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.
Eric Baxter, an attorney from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, believes that the state is unfairly targeting the two conservative schools. He argued: “There’s no evidence that the admissions requirements at Crown and Northwestern were causing a problem that was so compelling that they had to restrict these schools’ religious practices.” It is worth noting that only two out of the many schools engaged in this program require a statement of faith.