A Bold New Campaign for Classical Christian Education

“The Battle for the American School” is on.

A coalition effort, led by the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS), Turning Point Education and the Heritage Foundation has announced plans to enroll 1.5 million new students and add 5,000 new or converted classical Christian schools over the next decade.

David Goodwin, president of ACCS, was blunt about the ambitious goals of the effort.

“What we’re trying to do is take enough of the public school share that we can change the country’s direction with powerful leadership coming out of these classical Christian schools,” he recently said.

The robust scope of the campaign is being made possible because of mostly conservative state legislatures, which in recent years have approved school voucher programs allowing parents to use taxpayer funds to cover the cost of private education. As of this month, 34 states have one or more private-school choice programs.

The ACCS, which was founded in the 1990s, is a Christ-centered, theologically Protestant organization, existing to help like-minded believers build unapologetically Christian schools. Here’s how ACCS defines itself:

We study all things, using scripture as an interpretive lens. Music, art, entertainment, culture, history, science, and much more are within our scope. We “pillage the Egyptians,” in the words of Augustine, by reclaiming all earthly treasures in subjection to Christ. 

“Classical Christian Education” looks at all the world through a biblical lens. It delves into the foundation and building blocks of knowledge, including grammar, logic, and rhetoric. It includes the reading and debate of great works of literature, languages, mathematics, science, music and art. 

But in the words of the late Dr. Warren Wiersbe, “The mark of a true Bible student is not a big head but a burning heart.”

Classical Christian schools work to develop not just the intellect of a student but their entire being.

The current coalition campaign is pivoting off Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s book, “The Battle for the American Mind,” in which he correctly observed, “Without classical Christian education, there would be no America.” He also notes that the current debate “Is a battle. A war—a war over correct ideas …. The classroom is our battlefield, the hearts and minds of our kids the prize.”

The ACCS network consists of 500 schools, but 200 of them have been added just since 2019.

“Turning Point Education” is an arm of Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk. TP Education strives to educate and mentor individuals and groups working to start a classical school. They believe true education should be “where all areas of study are rooted in God’s truth aimed at forming children into adults who glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973, has long championed the policy of school choice and the use of vouchers for private education. Kevin Roberts, the organization’s president, is especially enthusiastic about the “Battle for the American School” because he notes, “There have to be schools where you actually want people to use their education savings accounts.”

Some Christians have understandably expressed caution or concern over the precedent of government funds potentially threatening the autonomy and independence of Christian institutions. Basically, once schools begin receiving money from Uncle Sam, they might be forced to comply with policies or curriculum that would violate their distinctively Christian mission and programs.

But Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, has pointed out the big difference between private schools receiving money directly from the government and mothers and fathers being permitted to use their own tax dollars to offset the cost of their children’s tuition. 

Speaking directly to the parents, Dr. Mohler observed, “You’re the deciding factor. You don’t have to sign on to anything ideological. No one’s going to come in and give you an ideological test for receiving that voucher.” 

He continued:

“I don’t think the voucher system is wrong. I think that’s actually an example of what conservative Christians should understand is a rightful government understanding of parental responsibility in education.” 

As many parents know all too well, schools have an oversized influence on children and their futures. We applaud the “Battle for the American School” campaign and encourage others to join us in praying for and supporting this visionary, Herculean effort to help instill in children a Christ-centered worldview when it comes to every subject in the classroom.