Arizona Public Schools Removing “Salt and Light” from Their Schools
Arizona Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Glendale, Arizona. The school has been ranked the #1 University in Arizona by College Consensus. Their calling, as written on their website, is to help each student pursue a degree in their chosen area of study while equipping them to be “salt and light” wherever God places them.
One of those places has been the Washington Elementary School District (WESD). For 11 years there has been a working relationship between the two parties. ACU students studying education were able to get on-the-job experience to meet teaching hours required to graduate. In turn, the school district received free labor and manpower and increased their ability to recruit new teachers to help alleviate the growing teacher shortage.
At a recent school board meeting, a recommendation was made for WESD's Governing Board to approve the renewal agreement with ACU. According to meeting minutes board member, Tamillia Valenzuela, made a motion to reject the renewal agreement. Ms Valenzuela, a bilingual, disabled, neurodivergent Queer Black Latina who frequently wears cat ears, claimed ACU’s biblical beliefs were 'unsafe' for LGBTQ students. This claim was made despite the fact that, over the 11 years, there has not been any incident by an Arizona Christian student that violated any School District policy, and the feedback from administrators and from teachers in the district has only been positive.
When light is removed from a space, it becomes a dark space. Thankfully we have the opportunity to send our children to a place where the light of Christ shines bright. Christian schools can be that place where young minds discover their true identity…in Christ. More than ever, Christian families need the option to have their children educated with a Christ-centered, biblically focused curriculum that aligns with their families values. This will help to equip the next generation to serve God in all aspects of life, as leaders of influence and excellence. Thank you, Christian educators, for all you do! We pray that God would continually bless your schools to be a light in this dark world.
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