An Arizona school board is facing a lawsuit after it severed a long-standing partnership with a Christian university that supplied student teachers over their religious beliefs.
Conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed the lawsuit against Washington Elementary School District on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
For the past 11 years, Arizona Christian University (ACU) has supplied the largest elementary school district in Arizona, including Phoenix and Glendale, with student teachers who would shadow teachers, according to the lawsuit (pdf).
Board President Nikkie Gomez-Whaley described the relationship as “mutually beneficial.” However, the school district ended the partnership at a board meeting two weeks ago, where board members discussed the university’s Christian beliefs….