Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Colorado’s new universal preschool program went into effect on July 1, 2023. The state funds at least 15 hours per week of school for every four-year-old.
When it comes to “inclusion,” Christians don’t seem welcome. The Colorado Department of Early Childhood requires all schools that participate in the program to comply with two provisions that bar discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, and “gender identity,” including faith-based schools.
Darren Patterson Christian Academy was approved to participate and requested an exemption from the mandate. The Department rejected the request.
The mandate would result in the school changing its “religious character, beliefs, and exercise to participate in Colorado’s universal preschool program just like everyone else,” according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the school’s legal counsel. The requirement could include allowing boys access to girls’ restrooms and changing areas and forcing the school to hire people who don’t share its beliefs about marriage and sexuality.
Darren Patterson Christian Academy filed a federal lawsuit in June, and a court recently heard arguments. From ADF:
“Darren Patterson Christian Academy has been serving Chaffee County families for over 40 years. Yet Colorado officials are forcing it to abandon its religious beliefs—the reason why parents choose to send their kids to the school—to receive critical state funding. This is a violation of the school’s First Amendment rights.”
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Unless the school capitulates and agrees to violate its religious beliefs and exercise, it will lose valuable tuition reimbursement from the state and potentially students and families.
“The government cannot force religious schools to abandon their beliefs and exercise to participate in a public benefit program that everyone else can access,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus.”
Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
