Faith, Family, and Fortitude: Bethel Christian Academy’s Story

“[I]f a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be.”

Thomas Jefferson’s words from over 200 years ago ring as true today as ever. Education is a foundation of a free society. Not only does every child deserve a good education, but every nation may depend on it.

Today, school vouchers open up educational opportunities for low-income families and their children. But government officials in Maryland deprived families of these expanded opportunities by placing their ideology first and targeting Bethel Christian Academy for its beliefs on marriage and sexuality. The government went so far as to demand that the school pay back a six-figure sum they had already received through the state’s voucher program.

Thankfully, with the help of ADF, the school fought back and prevailed.

What is Bethel Christian Academy?

Bethel Christian Academy is a private Christian school in Savage, Maryland, that’s run by the local church and serves over 200 students in pre-K through eighth grade. Founded in 1984, it exists to “provide excellent instruction in a Christian environment.” As the senior pastor Dr. Johnny Green put it, the school wants “to make sure these kids become light in today’s darkness.”

The staff at Bethel is dedicated to this mission both during and outside of school hours. On top of a quality education, Bethel staff provide before- and after-school programs where students can have meals, work on their homework, and participate in activities while their parents are at work.

The school is dedicated to serving students from various backgrounds and across economic disparities. Roughly a quarter of the school’s students receive some form of financial aid. Students come from 40 different countries. Many aren’t from the same church that runs the school, and some have no religious affiliation.

Many families choose to send their children to Bethel because of its reputation for providing an excellent education in a diverse, faith-based environment. And some were only able to do so because of the state’s school voucher program—called BOOST.

But in August 2018, families who received financial aid through BOOST were given some unexpected news.

State officials target Bethel Christian Academy for its beliefs

For years, low-income families attending Bethel were able to pay for tuition with vouchers from the state’s BOOST program. Seventeen students used BOOST scholarships in the 2016-2017 school year, and 18 did the year after. That totaled over $100,000 in tuition paid through the program.

Bethel complied fully with the eligibility requirements for BOOST. Schools receiving state funds must affirm that they do not discriminate in admissions, including based on the sexual orientation of the applicant. Bethel has always followed this policy. In Principal Claire Dant’s words, “since we don’t do that, that was not an issue for us.”

But that wasn’t enough for state officials.

As a Christian school, Bethel believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. Its student handbook states that belief and requires students to abide by its faith-based standards of conduct. Students, staff, and teachers are all required to dress in accordance with their God-given sex and use the appropriate bathrooms. Additionally, all students are banned from engaging in any sexual conduct. Keep in mind, Bethel serves only pre-K through 8th grade students. That means all its students are under the age of consent.

Nevertheless, the state took issue with that language. Despite failing to show any evidence that Bethel discriminated in admissions based on sexual orientation, in 2018 the school was kicked out of the BOOST program just weeks before classes started. Because of this, several families had to withdraw from the school—despite Bethel’s best attempts to increase financial aid and cut costs.

The state even demanded that Bethel repay the $102,000 it had received in previous years through BOOST.  The Maryland State Department of Education even told Bethel it needed to revise its student handbook and then could potentially regain eligibility for BOOST.

Bethel Christian Academy stands up for its families

The government cannot force private organizations and individuals to speak its preferred message. The BOOST eligibility requirements themselves state that schools will not be forced to adopt specific policies. By kicking Bethel out of the program, the state not only broke BOOST rules but also defied the First Amendment.

Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom and the Garza Law Firm, Bethel Christian Academy sued state officials.

Its case garnered the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which filed a statement in favor of the school. The DOJ wrote that “The United States is resolutely committed to protecting the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

The court agreed.

In December 2021, a U.S. district court ruled that state officials violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment by trying to force Bethel to adopt its preferred viewpoint. As a result, the school did not have to repay the state over $100,000.

The court explained that Maryland sought to regulate the school’s speech, not its conduct. The court acknowledged that the only reason Bethel was removed from BOOST was because of its student handbook. And the First Amendment prevents the government from “acting as the arbiter of acceptable and unacceptable speech.” The state was focused solely on what the school said—not what it actually did. In fact, other schools that initially were told they might be ineligible were allowed to participate in BOOST after slightly changing the language in their own policies.

This isn’t an issue that impacts only a small subset of people. If state actors can force private nonprofits to adopt and promulgate specific language, then any organization can be co-opted for ideological purposes. But the First Amendment forbids that type of government control. As the court wrote, by trying to force Bethel to “tweak their language to be less explicit about the views they espoused, making those written policies more palatable to [state officials],” those officials violated the Constitution.

A victory for religious freedom and free speech

Programs like BOOST are not licenses for the government to turn private schools into the mouthpiece of the state. They exist instead to help families and kids find better options.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time that funding programs have been co-opted for ideological purposes. Trinity Lutheran Church was denied a grant to resurface its playground solely because of its religious identity. Thankfully, in 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious groups cannot be excluded from generally available benefits only because of their faiths. That case now serves as a fundamental protection for groups like Bethel Christian Academy and others.

Similarly, in Philadelphia, Catholic Social Services (CSS) was blocked from licensing foster parents based on its biblical beliefs about marriage. In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the city couldn’t single out CSS for its beliefs.

All of these cases show what happens when programs that serve local communities and the most vulnerable among us are taken over by divisiveness and scorn: Those who need help get hurt, and the courts are needed to step in.

The state doesn’t exist to silence, exclude, and whitewash. Whether they’re families looking to send their kids to a good school, churches that want safer playgrounds, or children that need a loving home, everyone deserves to be treated on equal footing.

Bethel Ministries v. Salmon

• August 2018: State officials told Bethel Ministries that its statement on marriage and biological sex violated the BOOST nondiscrimination requirements.
• December 2018: The state sent Bethel a letter demanding repayment of $102,600 in past BOOST funds from the years that Bethel participated in the program. The letter also said that Bethel was disqualified from BOOST for the next two school years.
• June 2019: Bethel Ministries, with the help of ADF, filed a federal lawsuit against state officials.
• September 2019: Bethel asked a federal district court to stop the state from punishing the school for its beliefs while the lawsuit continued.
• November 2019: The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the case in support of Bethel.
• December 2021: The court ruled that state officials violated Bethel Christian Academy’s First Amendment rights when they kicked the school out of the school voucher program because it expressed its religious beliefs. The court confirmed that Bethel never discriminated against students, and it ruled that Bethel does not have to pay back over $102,000 for its previous participation in the program.