The Pennsylvania Department of Education voted Wednesday against allowing a Christian educational organization that upholds a Biblical worldview on human sexuality to become a state-approved school accrediting agency at a special committee meeting.
The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), a Christian organization that provides accreditation to private Christian schools across the country, applied to become Pennsylvania’s fourth state approved accreditation body. Activists groups and members of the Pennsylvania state legislature have opposed the group due to their Biblical worldview on human sexuality, which includes opposing transgenderism, and sought to halt their application process, according to local reporting from Lancaster Online Newspaper.
Randall Wenger, legal counsel of ACSI, said during the meeting that ACSI was possibly “being targeted” by Pennsylvania lawmakers for their religious beliefs during the meeting’s public comment period.
Wenger described how the ACSI’s application with the Pennsylvania Department of Education had been moving forward, without issue, until he read a story in the local Lancaster Online Newspaper that the Department of Education had abruptly reversed their position.
“We read in the Lancaster newspaper, the State Department of Education reversed their position,” said Wenger.
“We also read that there were Democratic lawmakers that sent memos to the board stating that the State Board of Education in the [Pennsylvania Gov. Josh] Shapiro administration, should not formally endorse ACSI precisely because of ACSI’s religious beliefs. So if what Lancaster newspaper is saying is true, ACSI is being targeted by some because of religious beliefs. And no religious organization should be treated as a second class applicant because of its beliefs.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Education did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundations request for comment on why it reversed the recommendations.
Democrat State Sen. Lindsey Williams, a member of the state board of education who took part in the meeting, opposed the ACSI and suggested the group’s materials regarding LGBTQ+ students “conflict with existing Pennsylvania law” in a published statement.
“I am particularly concerned about the materials on their website regarding LGBTQ students, and its conflict with existing Pennsylvania law, specifically the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the PA Fair Educational Opportunities Act,” Williams said. “Those laws are in place to make sure that all students are safe and free from discrimination and harassment when they’re in school, so they can learn,” Williams told the Lancaster Online Newspaper.
Williams did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for further clarification on her statement.
Wenger specifically addressed the issue of transgenderism during his public comment stating, “There’s an ideology at issue here. An ideology that says that biological boys identifying as girls should be treated as girls for every purpose, including these bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams,” Wenger said. “ACSI’s religious beliefs are contrary to the ideological commitment.”
ACSI did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Wenger outlined why the state accreditation is important to the ACSI in a statement provided to the DCNF.
“Many Christian schools want to be accredited because of the credibility it brings the schools, and they want ACSI to be their accrediting agency because of their relationship with ACSI. ACSI wants to be recognized as an accrediting agency to serve those schools in the best way possible—with the gold star of recognition that they comply with state standards,” stated Wenger.
“The state has no business denying this benefit to ACSI. Unfortunately, the Special Committee on Private School Accreditation voted against ACSI based on PDE’s recommendation,” Wenger said.
The State Board of Education is scheduled to make a final decision on ACSI’s application during a meeting Thursday at 9 a.m.
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