The five-member school board for the Washington Elementary School Districtย in northwest Phoenix voted on February 23 to end a longstanding contract with Arizona Christian University (ACU) for student teachers.
The board president pushed back against charges of anti-Christian bias, citing โthis particular institutionโs strong anti-LGBTQ stance.โ
Related:
Weird Texas GOP bill would give big tax cuts only to hetero couples with lots of kids
The billโs anti-LGBTQ+ author said he hopes itโll encourage straight couples to โbe fruitful and multiply.โ Yeesh.
โFor me, this is not a concern about Christianity,โ saidย board president Nikki Gomez-Whaley. โThere are plenty of Christian denominations who are LGBTQ-friendly.โ
Students from ACU have served as student teachers in the school district for the last 11 years without incident, according to a district official who testified at the meeting. Participants in the program sign an agreement that prohibits them from proselytizing or discriminating against children whose values donโt align with their own.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Despite that history, new board member Tamillia Valenzuela brought the motion to reconsider extending the universityโs contract after investigating ACUโs stance on LGBTQ+ issues.
โWhile I full-heartedly believe in religious freedom and people being able to practice whatever faith that they have,โ Valenzuela said, she had concerns regarding Arizona Christian University in particular.
โWhen I go to Arizona Christian Universityโs website,โ it reads, โโAbove all else, be committed to Jesus Christ, accomplishing His will and advancing His kingdom on earth as in heaven,โโ Valenzuela said.
Part of the โfour valuesโ of the university, Valenzuela continued to quote, is to โโinfluence, engage and transform the culture with truth by promoting the biblically informed values that are foundational to Western civilization, including the centrality of family, traditional sexual morality and lifelong marriage between one man and one woman.'โ
โHow does that hold space for people of other faiths?โ Valenzuela asked. โHow does that hold space for our members of the LGBT community? How does that hold space for people who think differently and do not have the same beliefs? At some point, we need to get real with ourselves and take a look at who weโre making legal contracts with, and the message that that is sending to our community,โ she said, citing โthree of your board members who are a part of the LGBTQ community,โ as well.
Out board member Kyle Clayton agreed, saying โproselytizing is embedded into how they teach.โ
โIt just takes one off-the-cuff comment, one moment, to then have trauma for a child thatโs already vulnerable, already experienced trauma,โ Clayton said. That trauma โcould last the rest of their life.โย
Clayton says the schoolโs statement of faith, which the university requires students to sign, is what gave him pause.
โItโs not just teaching, but itโs teaching, as they say, with a biblical lens,โ Clayton told the meeting.
โโWe believe the term โmarriageโ has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture,โโ Clayton quoted from the schoolโs statement of faith.
โI would never want my son to talk about his two dads, and be shamed by a teacher who believed a certain way.โ
ACU responded to Washington Elementary School Districtโs actions in a statement: โThe school boardโs recent decision to ban ACU students from serving as student teachers was done for one reason only: our Universityโs commitment to our Christian convictionsโฆ Thatโs wrong, itโs unlawful, and it will only hurt the districtโs students.โ
Referring to the districtโs own agreement signed by student teachers, board president Gomez-Whaley said, โI simply donโt know how a piece of paper can change somebodyโs underlying value system, even though they may not do anything illegal, where they are preaching or using Bible verses.ย How do you shut off an essential part of your being and not be biased to the individuals in which you are in charge of nurturing and supporting unconditionally?โ she asked.
โI donโt see how that disconnect is possible.โ
Don't forget to share: