NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago is suing the city’s Board of Education, alleging that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) discriminated against its students by barring them from the district’s student-teaching program because of the college’s religious hiring practices.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 4 by the conservative Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, claims CPS excluded Moody students from its Pre-Service Teaching Program after the college refused to abandon its policy of hiring employees who affirm the school’s statement of faith and agree to live according to its Christian beliefs, including on gender and sexuality.
“As a condition of participation, Chicago Public Schools insists that Moody sign agreements with employment nondiscrimination provisions that forbid Moody from employing only those who share and live out its faith,” the complaint states. “Such a requirement is unlawful.”
After obtaining state approval for its elementary education program in January 2024, Moody contacted CPS about joining the student-teaching program. According to the complaint, CPS responded that the college would need to sign two nondiscrimination agreements to participate.
Chicago Public Schools is the largest school district in Illinois and is reportedly barring a religious college from participating in its student-teaching program, according to a new lawsuit. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Those agreements, nearly identical in language, require Moody to stop hiring only employees who share its Christian beliefs and agree to its code of conduct. They specifically prohibit discrimination based on religion, gender identity or expression, and sexual orientation.
Moody asked to modify the language to acknowledge its legal right to hire people of the same faith, but CPS rejected the request, citing its “strict district-wide nondiscrimination policy,” according to the lawsuit. When no agreement was reached, the suit alleges CPS excluded Moody and its students from participation.
The complaint argues that CPS selectively enforces its policy, noting that other religious colleges with similar hiring practices remain approved CPS partners. It also claims the district does not apply its own standards consistently, pointing to CPS’s “Equity Framework” and diversity initiatives that include race- and gender-based hiring goals.
Students outside the Moody Bible Institute, a Christian college. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL VIOLATED CHURCH’S FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS
Moody says the exclusion harms students pursuing elementary education degrees, who must complete classroom-observation and student-teaching hours to graduate and qualify for Illinois teaching licenses.
The college also argues the decision damages the reputation of its teaching program and limits graduates’ job prospects, especially given that CPS is the state’s largest school district. According to the lawsuit, CPS operates with a budget exceeding $8 billion, yet struggles to fill hundreds of open teaching positions each year.
“Chicago desperately needs more teachers to fill hundreds of vacancies, but public school administrators are putting personal agendas ahead of the needs of families,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus said in a news release. “Moody holds its faculty and students to high standards of excellence and is more than qualified to participate in Chicago’s student-teaching program. By excluding Moody for its religious beliefs, Chicago Public Schools is illegally injecting itself into a religious non-profit’s hiring practices, which the Constitution and state laws expressly forbid.”
The lawsuit asks the court to declare CPS’s actions unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Chicago Public Schools has an operating budget exceeding $8 billion but has hundreds of teaching position vacancies, according to the lawsuit. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
It also seeks an injunction preventing CPS from enforcing its nondiscrimination provisions against Moody’s faith-based employment practices and from excluding its students on the basis of religion. The suit also seeks nominal and compensatory damages.
The Chicago Board of Education did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Discount Applied Successfully!
Your savings have been added to the cart.