Takeaways from AP's report on the taxpayer-funded growth of classical Christian schools

Conservatives are banding together to grow classical Christian schools by leveraging new taxpayer-funded scholarships.

These scholarships have rapidly expanded in states around the country. They mean half of school-age children in the U.S. are now eligible to apply for state money to attend private schools.

Last year, the Association of Classical Christian Schools, or ACCS, formed a coalition with some powerful conservative groups, including Turning Point Education and the Heritage Foundation. Their goal is to convert or create 5,000 new classical Christian schools in the next decade with 1.5 million students nationwide.

"It sounds like a very ambitious goal, but this money has never been there before," said ACCS President David Goodwin.

He sees a historic opportunity to take a share of public funding and educate Christian leaders. Critics worry this movement will harm public schools and create church-state issues.

ACCS, which has ties to the Trump administration, is the oldest network of classical Christian schools. Its founder is Doug Wilson, a conservative Idaho pastor and writer.

The Associated Press interviewed more than 30 ACCS leaders and parents, as well as more than a dozen other experts and advocates. The reporting was done from Washington, D.C., inside schools in Texas and at the group's annual conference in Atlanta.

Here are some takeaways from the AP's reporting.

Conservatives wage the 'Battle for the American School'

The Association of Classical Christian Schools calls its campaign the "Battle for the American School." It's a riff on the 2022 bestselling book Goodwin co-wrote with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who sent his children to ACCS schools before joining President Donald Trump's cabinet. Their book, "Battle for the American Mind," extols classical education and critiques the prevailing public school model.

Hegseth remains a booster: The Pentagon recently introduced a form of classical education into government-run schools on military bases.

ACCS membership includes about 500 schools, but it has grown by nearly 200 since 2019. Goodwin, its president, credits a pandemic-era mistrust of public education, when debates ignited over school closures, books, race, sexuality and gender identity.

Not all ACCS schools accept government money, but many that do now advertise state funding options on their websites.

The definition of classical education varies

Classical education, popular among conservatives, was already on the rise before more taxpayer funds became available. It exists in many forms, in religious schools outside ACCS, homeschooling groups, secular and charter schools.

Many classical Christian schools go a step further in their focus on reclaiming and promoting Western Christian culture.

The ACCS version of classical Christian education is proudly erudite: The Oxford-educated Christian writer C.S. Lewis is a lodestar, and students study the liberal arts and the "great books." Its teaching methods draw from ancient and medieval sources with a strong focus on Western Christian history.

The network has a controversial founder

Doug Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist who has made headlines for preaching at a Pentagon worship service and advocating for the repeal of women's voting rights. He is also a pioneer in classical Christian education.

In 1981, he helped start the Logos School in Moscow, Idaho, one of the first in the modern classical Christian movement. He founded ACCS in 1994.

ACCS is less pugilistic than its founder. It includes socially conservative Christians across denominations and hasn't adopted Wilson's more fringe beliefs. Schools agree to a statement of faith, including that same-sex relationships and gender transitions are off-limits, but families may not be aware of Wilson's teachings or influence. He still advises the ACCS board, though, and his books are required reading in some of its schools.

A new Texas program boosts Christian schools with taxpayer funds

This summer, Texas began rolling out $1 billion in public funding that eligible families can put toward private education expenses.

Keith Castello, an ACCS administrator in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, said the influx of taxpayer money "completely transforms the possibility" of increasing access to Christian education.

Now that Texas offers money for private school tuition, he encourages parents to use it.

Castello is launching three classical Christian schools this fall. At one of his startup schools, an estimated 22 of 25 students are using Texas Education Freedom Accounts, or TEFA.

The Texas program prioritizes low-income students and those with disabilities, but its income limits this year go up to $165,000 for a family of four, opening the door to middle-income families. Eligible students can receive at least $10,474 for private school.

At Coram Deo Academy, an ACCS school where Castello served as vice president of operations until last year, more than 360 students out of 2,000 have been approved for TEFA.

Coram Deo could potentially receive $3.5 million in TEFA funds this year, equal to nearly 17% of its budget, according to Scott Head, the school's chief financial officer. The taxpayer funds are also on track to cover half the school's financial aid budget.

The school funding shift blurs the line between public and private

For years, Democrats and rural Republicans in Texas blocked efforts to create education savings accounts, worried about their effect on public schools, especially in rural areas.

In the U.S., most private schools are religious. Securing public money for them fulfills a longstanding goal for Christian conservatives but raises issues over church-state separation.

"It's an abject violation of religious freedom to force a taxpayer to fund a school that discriminates against their faith," said Rachel Laser, head of the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Castello has heard the critiques that these programs will hurt public schools. He counters that he and other private school parents still pay taxes that support public education.

"I'm not against the public schools," Castello said, but he believes the line between public and private is blurring.

"If private schools are being funded by taxpayer funds, then what is the difference between public and private?" he asked.