There’s an uproar brewing around the Arizona school system, but it’s not the one you might expect. Fingers are pointed at Dream City Christian School, a private educational institution supported by Turning Point USA, known for its conservative stance and strong Christian principles. The school is unintentionally at the center of a squabble not because it’s failing its students, but because it has chosen to prioritize traditional ethics over modern liberal ideologies, triggering heated debates about school choice and taxpayer funding.
CNN’s Rene Marsh chose to focus her Friday scoop on Dream City’s religious background, specifically, its teachings on sexual ethics which hold firm to the Christian doctrine. Her lens of scrutiny also grappled with how the school, like many private institutions, receives public funds for their operations. According to Marsh, Dream City was given more taxpayer money than 95% of the private schools in the state voucher program, amounting to $1.3 million last year. Critics have branded this as a “civil rights issue,” insisting that a Christian school which imparts Christian knowledge shouldn’t receive public aid.
Conveniently overlooked, however, are the notorious issues plaguing public schools and the benefits that alternatives such as Dream City offer. Over time, Arizonans have joined the masses leaning towards school choice, enabled by Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program that asserts education is not a one-size-fits-all vacuum. Parents are seizing the privilege to send their children to schools of their choice. Regardless of political or religious affiliations, they have the right to consider the best interest of their child.
Despite Marsh’s best efforts to narrow the narrative, the facts remain. Arizona parents tired of an education system failing to meet expectations are embracing school choice, and Christian schools like Dream City are part of that equation. These institutions are not targeted for a liberal or conservative stance, but because they offer a different choice, an alternative path that values individualism over the one-track mindset that has driven public education for years now.
It’s a wave spreading across the country as parents grow discontent with failing public education and its liberal agenda. Public schools may face a crisis with enrolments decreasing and parents redirecting their children to Christian schools using government funds. The Department of Education and schools will have to shape up to reverse this trend or risk becoming the subjects of the next sob story on CNN.
In conclusion, the narrative spun around Dream City fails to address the essentials. Instead of pointing fingers at private institutions and crying civil rights, our focus should be on reforming our public schools. If we cautioned as much about the glaring issues in public education as much as the ideological leanings of private institutions, we might just hit the reset button on this debate. Until we do, private Christian schools like Dream City will continue to be a viable choice for parents who want the best for their children.
