California has a reputation for implementing the leftist, pro-homosexual and pro-abortion agenda in its schools.
Even back when “The Terminator,” actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was governor, the state required that schools teach only a “positive” view of homosexuality, preventing teachers from informing students of the health risks.
The state’s moves in recent years have been draconian, even banning counselors from helping students who want to rid themselves of unwanted same-sex attractions.
It’s why so many parents have chosen Christian schools for their children. But now the state is targeting that last remaining stronghold for faith and freedom.
And the Pacific Justice Institute is fighting back in a lawsuit brought by River View Christian Academy in rural northern California.
The school was hit with a SWAT-style raid prompted by “an internet rumor put forward by an online left-wing tabloid.”
There was no truth to the allegation the school “housed illegal drugs, stockpiled weapons, and was preparing for an end-times apocalypse.”
“The state was duped” into ordering a raid that included “16 armed law enforcement from the California Highway Patrol, two canine units, and 17 social workers,” PJI said
The unannounced assault against the boarding school “terrified students and staff,” said PJI.
But it turned up no evidence.
It was, however, only the first wave in the state’s attack.
“Instead of apologizing for its dangerous blunder, the state doubled down and began imposing daily fines against the school for allegedly operating as an ‘unlicensed community care facility,'” PJI said.
“RVCA has actually operated as a private school for the past 25 years, filing an annual affidavit with the California Department of Education as do other private schools and homeschools in the state,” the legal team explained.
“The state is now taking the position that, due to recent legislation, it is no longer possible for a private boarding school to operate without extensive licensing and oversight by the Department of Social Services. But licensing is more than just an administrative headache – it would require the Christian school to relinquish its moral standards. For instance, the state requires that licensed facilities allow students to have the right to engage in spiritual and sexual exploration, which contradicts the goals of many parents who enroll their kids in RVCA,” the lawyers explained.
The facility is under the oversight of the Teen Rescue ministry, which partners with parents who want to provide their teens with a “change of scenery and alternative educational environment.”
The ministry was founded in 1989 and the school in 1993.
“Reading the state’s search warrant and legal filings in this case is chilling,” warned PJI’s lead lawyer in the case, Kevin Snider.
“This armed incursion on a faith-based school shows that the state wants nothing less than to take jurisdictional control over Christian education in California. This is rooted in its disagreement with millennia-old religious values,” he explained.
The school sued, but a federal judge complained that it hadn’t gone through the state’s “process” first. But then the state itself abandoned its administrative routine and sued the school.
“In 25 years of practice, I have never seen this level of aggressive, militant, and ideologically driven conduct by a state agency against a religious institution,” Snider said.
“For years, as the public schools have become increasingly hostile toward parents, the courts have insisted that the parents’ option is to instead choose private education. Now, that fundamental right is also under attack.”