The Oakland Unified School District is Denying Equal Access to an Elementary School Christian Club

Government schools don’t like Christians, do they?

A New York school district recently denied a Bible club official recognition until warned by a law firm that doing so was illegal. Now a school district in California is denying equal access to a Christian club.

Liberty Counsel recently filed a lawsuit against the Oakland Unified School District on behalf of Child Evangelism Fellowship NorCal East Bay for denying Good News Clubs access to school facilities while it allows access to secular clubs. Liberty Counsel said the denial violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, state law, and school board policy. An excerpt:

Good News Clubs typically meet once per week, immediately after school, and are led by trained and vetted local community volunteers. The clubs provide religious and other teaching and activities to encourage learning, spiritual growth, and service to others, as well as social, emotional, character, and leadership development. Good News Clubs do not charge any fee and welcome children with written permission from parents. There are currently 3,041 Good News Clubs in public elementary schools across the United States.

According to Liberty Counsel, club participation is free, and children with parents’ written permission may participate. The school district allowed the Good News Clubs before the COVID-19 pandemic but cancelled the clubs in 2020. The district denied requests to resume meetings in 2023.

Liberty Counsel said that in one denial, a principal displayed religious viewpoint discrimination. From the email: “As a public school, we are not in support of Evangelism on our campus.”

The principal apparently was unaware that refusing to allow a religious club because it is religious is religious discrimination. The lawsuit changed that.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities,” said Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman. “Therefore, the Oakland Unified School District must give the Good News Clubs equal access and treatment as the similarly situated non-religious groups on public school campuses.”