Moody Bible Institute sues school board over exclusion from teacher program
Moody Bible Institute has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education for barring it from a teaching program due to its faith-based hiring practices.
Moody filed the complaint on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
According to the lawsuit, Chicago education officials prohibited Moody from participating in a student-teaching program solely because of the Evangelical institution's hiring practices.
To participate in the program, Moody must agree to non-discrimination policies that would go against its policy of only hiring employees who subscribe to its beliefs and practices.
Moody’s standards for staff include requiring employees to avoid sexual activity outside of marriage, not to engage in same-sex romantic relationships, and to be active at a local congregation.
“These religious requirements and expectations help ensure that anyone who interacts with the ministry encounters Christ not just in what is taught in its classrooms, radio and media broadcasts, and publications, but also in the lives of Moody’s messengers and representatives,” reads the lawsuit.
The complaint accuses the Chicago Board of Education of violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
According to the suit, Chicago’s policy also conflicts with the requirements of the Christian school’s elementary education program, which requires students to complete at least 10 hours of classroom observation at a public school and at least 10 hours at a Christian school.
Moody is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit legal organization that specializes in religious liberty cases and has successfully argued First Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus said in a statement provided to The Christian Post that while “Chicago desperately needs more teachers to fill hundreds of vacancies,” public school officials “are putting personal agendas ahead of the needs of families.”
“Moody holds its faculty and students to high standards of excellence and is more than qualified to participate in Chicago’s student-teaching program,” stated Galus.
“By excluding Moody for its religious beliefs, Chicago Public Schools is illegally injecting itself into a religious nonprofit’s hiring practices, which the Constitution and state laws expressly forbid.”
Chicago Public Schools spokesman Evan Moore told The College Fix on Wednesday that the school district “remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its students.”
“In accordance with district policy, CPS does not comment on matters involving pending litigation,” Moore added.
