Government school bureaucrats do not like Christians.
The Oakland Unified School District in California, for example, denied a Christian student club called the Good News Club equal access to facilities while it allowed equal access to other clubs.
Liberty Counsel (LC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), which operates the clubs. A court issued a preliminary injunction last August, blocking the school district from discriminating against the club while the case is pending.
LC filed a lawsuit this week against another school district for discriminating against Good News Clubs.
Moline-Coal Valley Community Unified School District in Illinois blocks equal access to Good News Clubs in three of their schools. From LC:
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Central Illinois, also names Superintendent Dr. Rachel Savage and the district’s Board of Education on account of more than five years of unconstitutional religious discrimination by the district against CEF’s after school programs.
Liberty Counsel seeks a permanent injunction declaring the district’s policy actions against CEF unconstitutional as well as an order for the district to restore equal access to the Good News Clubs on elementary school campuses.
Government schools need to check the laws. They cannot discriminate against a religious club because it is religious.
According to LC, the Moline-Coal Valley Community Unified School District since 2021 charges CEF to use government school facilities. These clubs can’t send flyers home with students as other clubs can or participate in “backpack nights” as other clubs do.
For some reason, the school district got away with treating the Christian clubs differently. No more.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities,” said Mat Staver, LC founder and chairman. “The Moline-Coal Valley Community Unified School District must give the Good News Clubs equal access as the similarly situated non-religious groups on public school campuses.”
