Thu, Dec 22 2005

Is a Church School a Business?

One California lawsuit could result in an interesting precedent regarding church-operated high schools and how much leeway they have in accepting and keeping students whose lifestyle or beliefs may not match the church schools list of acceptable behavior or beliefs.

Particularly interesting to me is the fact that the students' attorney refers to the church school as a fee-taking institution, and as such, a business, which has no right to discriminate with regard to sexual orientation. I'm thinking this sort of classification could cause church schools to be more careful in how they charge tuition, since they are generally not thought of as being profitable in a business sense. Depending on how this case comes out, churches that operate schools may find themselves having to prove they are not businesses. And if they can't do that they may be facing some tough decisions when it comes to school policy. If a church school can't screen students based on its church's beliefs then the school could become a liability to its own church organization. This will be a case worth watching.

posted at: 10:07 | category: /Politics | link to this entry