Christian Group Fights for Equal Access to Public School Facilities
by Allie Martin
August 31, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Christian club has filed a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a California school district that contends state law requires it to discriminate against religious groups.Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) sponsors after-school clubs knows as Good News Clubs, which teach elementary-age students morals and character development from a Christian viewpoint. The organization has now filed a TRO against the Bear Valley Unified School District, located in the mountains northeast of San Bernardino, because it has been prevented from using school facilities for a Good News Club.
Mat Staver | |
California law requires that public school facilities be open to the public for after-school use. However, district officials have established a usage fee in which religious groups are charged, but secular groups are not. Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, says the U.S. Supreme Court has already settled the issue in a similar case."In that case [Good News Club v. Milford Central School District], the court rejected the same argument by a New York school district that said it was required to discriminate based on state law," Staver explains. "One thing is very clear: equal access means equal treatment. That not only includes access to school facilities or government facilities, but also access on the same equal basis and criteria as afforded to secular groups."
As the Liberty Counsel attorney points out, the First Amendment forbids policies like those being imposed by the Bear Valley district. "The First Amendment of the United States Constitution trumps and overrules any alleged state law that would otherwise require discrimination against religious speech," he says.
The lawsuit asks for an emergency hearing seeking a court order allowing CEF to use the facilities beginning this school year.
