by Dr. Mark Creech
Director of Government Relations
Return America
Governor Josh Stein’s proposed state budget includes a provision that should concern Christian parents, pastors, and school leaders throughout North Carolina.
Buried in the Governor’s budget recommendations is language addressing private schools that enroll Opportunity Scholarship students. The proposal would require participating nonpublic schools not to discriminate on the basis of several categories, including sexual orientation.
On the surface, some may hear that and dismiss it as harmless. But for Christian schools that uphold biblical teaching on marriage, human sexuality, and identity, this provision could pose serious problems.
North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship program helps families choose the school that best fits their child’s needs. Many parents use these scholarships to send their children to Christian schools because they seek an education grounded in biblical truth, moral formation, academic excellence, and a partnership among home, church, and school.
But Governor Stein’s proposal would move the program in a troubling direction. It would impose a new ideological condition on schools participating in the scholarship program. If adopted, Christian schools could be forced to choose between admitting scholarship students and maintaining clear biblical standards in their policies, handbooks, admissions practices, student conduct rules, and classroom instruction.
This is not a trivial matter.
Christian schools are not merely private businesses. They are ministries. Their mission is not merely to provide instruction in math, science, history, and reading. Their mission is to teach all subjects under the lordship of Christ and to form students according to the Word of God. That includes what Scripture teaches about marriage, sexuality, family, personal conduct, and the created order.
Many Christian schools affirm that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Many also require students and families to respect the school’s statement of faith and its standards of conduct. These policies are not expressions of hatred or hostility but of sincere religious conviction.
The concern is not that Christian schools want to mistreat anyone. They do not. Christian schools should show kindness, patience, dignity, and compassion to every student and every family. But kindness does not require a Christian institution to surrender its beliefs. Compassion does not require a school to affirm what Scripture does not affirm.
That is why Governor Stein’s proposal is troubling.
If the state can require Christian schools to adopt government-approved nondiscrimination language on sexual orientation as a condition of serving scholarship students, what comes next? Will schools later face pressure over gender identity, pronoun policies, chapel messages, counseling, student handbooks, hiring standards, overnight trips, athletics, or curriculum?
These are not imaginary concerns. Across the country, religious schools and ministries have faced mounting pressure to compromise biblical convictions in the name of modern sexual ideology. North Carolina should not follow that path.
It is also important to remember what Opportunity Scholarships are intended to do. The scholarship is designed to help parents, especially those of limited means, choose the education they believe is best for their children. The money is intended to follow the student, not to turn private Christian schools into extensions of the state.
Parents who choose Christian education should not be punished for their school’s belief in and teaching of historic Christian doctrine. Lower-income families should not be told, in effect, “You may use public assistance for education, but only at schools willing to accept the state’s moral conditions.”
That would undermine the very purpose of school choice.
Thankfully, this proposal has not become law. Republicans currently control both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly, and it seems unlikely that legislative leaders who have supported Opportunity Scholarships would adopt this language in the final budget. But Christians should not ignore the proposal simply because it may not pass this year.
The proposal reveals a clear direction. It shows what some would like to do with school-choice programs if given the opportunity. It demonstrates that the fight over Opportunity Scholarships is not only about funding but also about freedom.
Return America believes that Christian parents and schools should pay close attention and speak up now.
Supporters should respectfully contact their state House and Senate members and urge them to exclude this language from the final budget. Lawmakers should be asked to protect Opportunity Scholarships and ensure that Christian schools are not forced to choose between biblical conviction and serving scholarship families.
The message should be clear:
Christian schools must remain free to uphold their statements of faith, biblical standards of conduct, and religious mission. Parents must remain free to choose Christian education without the state using scholarship funds as leverage to impose a secular sexual ethic.
North Carolina should protect religious liberty and parental choice. It should also reject any budget provision that threatens either.
Return America Urges Its Supporters, Pastors, Christian School Board Members, Faculty, and Staff, as well as Parents of Students in Christian Schools Across the State, to Contact NC House and Senate Members
Concerned Christian citizens may use the following talking points when writing to or calling their state House and Senate members. Please do not copy and paste these talking points into an email. Instead, choose one or two that especially concern you and write your message in your own words.
When making a phone call, keep these talking points in front of you. Briefly and respectfully share your concerns, whether you are leaving a voicemail, speaking with the lawmaker’s legislative assistant, or speaking directly with the lawmaker.
Not Sure Who Represents You?
Visit the North Carolina General Assembly’s “Find Your Legislators” page, enter your home address to identify your state House member and state Senator, and obtain each legislator’s contact information.
Talking Points for Contacting Legislators
- Please keep Governor Stein’s “sexual orientation” language out of the final state budget.
Nonpublic Christian schools that enroll Opportunity Scholarship students should not be forced to accept new ideological conditions that may conflict with their biblical convictions. - Opportunity Scholarships are about parental choice.
These scholarships help families choose the school that best fits their child’s needs. The program should not be used to pressure Christian schools into compromising their religious beliefs. - Christian schools are ministries, not merely private businesses.
Many Christian schools exist to teach children in accordance with the truth of Scripture. Their statements of faith, student handbooks, admissions policies, and codes of conduct are integral to their religious mission. - Religious liberty must be protected.
A Christian school should not be forced to choose between serving scholarship families and remaining faithful to biblical teaching on marriage, sexuality, and personal conduct. - This is not about mistreating anyone.
Christian schools should treat every student and family with dignity, kindness, and compassion. But compassion does not require a school to affirm beliefs or support conduct that contradicts Scripture. - Public education assistance should follow the student, not control the school.
Opportunity Scholarship funds help parents make educational choices. They should not be used by the state to impose secular moral standards on religious schools. - Low- and middle-income families would be hurt the most.
If Christian schools are forced out of the Opportunity Scholarship program, many families who rely on scholarships could lose access to the school they believe is best for their children. - Reject any effort to weaken or phase out Opportunity Scholarships.
North Carolina should expand educational freedom, not restrict it. Families deserve more options, not fewer. - Do Not Allow This Proposal to Become a Future Bargaining Chip Even if the language is unlikely to pass this year, legislators should make it clear that religious liberty and parental choice are not negotiable.
- Please protect Christian schools, Christian families, and educational freedom.
The final budget should preserve Opportunity Scholarships without adding language that could threaten religious schools’ freedom to uphold their beliefs.
