Systemic flaw

Education | Judge gives boost to Christian schools’ case against the University of California | Lynn Vincent

After a 10-month wait, California Christian schools finally have an answer: The University of California (UC) may well have violated their First Amendment rights.

Two years ago, the UC Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) systematically rejected core courses taught in private Christian schools. If Christian schools wanted to offer, say, physics using a Bob Jones University Press textbook, fine, BOARS said. But students taking that course would not meet the physics requirement necessary to gain admission to the UC system (see "Strange standards," Nov. 26, 2005).

BOARS based its decision exclusively on the fact that the BJU text added a Christian viewpoint to an otherwise standard physics curriculum. After UC rejected a series of other courses, in history, biology, government, and literature, the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) sued.