There’s a big problem facing Christian families today. Thanks to decades of growing government spending and higher taxes, many Christian parents can’t afford to keep one parent at home to homeschool their children. Most of the Christian parents I know both work. So how do these Christians parents educate their children? Many don’t have enough money for anything except for public schools. But some turn to private Christian schools.

Here’s an interesting story from The Federalist about a Christian school in Nashville, TN:

Parents and staff at a Christian prep school in Nashville are upset about what they say is a trend away from biblical teaching and toward leftist ideology after Lipscomb Academy hired a principal who wrote his dissertation on school diversity policies.

This is a very expensive school for high-earning Christian parents. But what are Christian parents getting for all that tuition money?

Some of the parents have expressed concerns about leftist ideologies infiltrating the school:

Lipscomb Academy has shifted to a more politicized, “diversity, equity, and inclusion”-influenced education, some Lipscomb parents and others connected to the academy including employees tell The Federalist. They asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal against their children and their positions with the school.

The problems seem to be related to the new leader of the school:

These individuals claim the shift picked up when Brad Schultz was tapped to lead Lipscomb Academy. Schultz, whose 2013 doctoral dissertation was titled “Intentionally Diverse: A Historical Investigation of a Southern Private School’s Ten-Year Diversity Initiative,” began his tenure as Lipscomb’s Head of School in June 2020 — just as race riots took off in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities.

The Christian parents I know want their children to have an accurate and defensible Christian worldview. So that means not only learning what the Bible teaches, but how it applies to every area of life. And it also means not just taking the Bible “on faith”, but knowing how to disagree with other faiths and cultures using logic and evidence. It means being able to show objective evidence for the core claims of Christianity, such as the origin of the universe and the goodness of chastity, right to life, natural marriage, etc.

But what is Schultz concerned about in his dissertation?

Schultz’s dissertation relies on several critical theorists, including Antonio Gramsci, Frantz Fanon, Paulo Freire, and Max Horkheimer. According to its adherents, critical social theory aims to challenge systemic power structures on behalf of “oppressed” people.

[…]The dissertation expresses “concerns” that Northeastern Christian School’s mission statement — “To help each child grow as Jesus did in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man” — showed “signs of cultural invasion.” The mission statement’s “commitment to help students grow in favor with God” presents a “significant threat here of students being negatively influenced by a hidden curriculum,” he wrote.

“Is the school saying it holds the key to being in favor with God? If so, what is this saying to students who come to the school from different religious faiths or cultures?” Schultz wrote of the Christian school, which was “run and taught by members of the Churches of Christ.”

The dissertation also warned Northeastern was missing out on further “diversity” by turning away homosexual students and families. Schultz said the school uses “rules and disciplinary measures” to “prevent homosexual students and/or parents from ‘accomplishing its educational and spiritual purposes.’”

“As support for gay marriage continues to rise, the school’s stance towards homosexuality and same-sex marriage is likely to come into question,” Schultz wrote.

Do you think that a leader of a Christian school should be intimidated by what  members other religions – like Islam – feel about the truth of Christianity? Do you think that a leader of a Christian school should be intimidated by what homosexuals and proponents of same-sex marriage feel about the Bible’s teachings on those issues? I think the problem we are having today is that we have redefined Christianity to be about feeling good and being liked by non-Christians. Those were not concerns of Jesus, according to the Bible. But they are the concerns of people today.

We have a discipline called “apologetics” that teaches Christians how to be comfortable showing why they believe what they believe to non-Christians. But it takes effort to learn. It’s not taught in most Christian homes, churches or Christian schools. So many Christians never learn how to challenge non-Christian ideas like Marxism and sexual immorality. And some of those unequipped people end up as administrators and teachers in Christian schools. And  then those Christian schools don’t produce students who go on to become Christian scholars like Stephen C. Meyer or Michael Licona or Fazale Rana.

In the specific case of Libscomb Academy, they seem to value achieving racial diversity. They highlight that priority on Schultz’s biography page.

The Federalist article has many more details. Please go read it.

And if you missed our episode of the Knight and Rose Show on this topic with Dr. Corey Miller, you might want to check it out.

Now let’s flip over to Daily Signal and see what Tyler O’Neil has to say.

He writes:

According to two Lipscomb Academy parents who spoke to The Daily Signal on condition of anonymity, the academy sent the new Code of Conduct to parents Feb. 24, requiring them to sign it by March 5 in order to keep their kids enrolled for the 2026-2027 academic year.

[…]“Families shall respect the confidentiality of administration, faculty, staff, and other students, and parents/guardians/families,” reads a section on privacy. “Information about personnel matters, disciplinary actions, grades, or other student matters must not be discussed publicly or shared through social media, texts, email, or conversation.”

The privacy section demands that families not “publicly speculate or criticize personnel decisions or school matters.”

Libscomb Academy doesn’t seem to like parents (their customers) complaining about the quality of the school.

Also note:

Lipscomb reportedly threatened The Federalist with legal action when the conservative outlet started asking questions.

“After The Federalist started looking into the allegations about the school’s left-leaning turn, Lipscomb’s general counsel sent a letter to Federalist Executive Editor Joy Pullmann warning that ‘publication of statements known to be false or made with reckless disregard for their accuracy could expose The Federalist to potential liability,’” the outlet’s M.D. Kittle reported.

Does this behavior sound like something Jesus would do? It sounds to me like something an atheist like Stalin would do. “Straight to the Gulag!” he’d say.

By the way, we have a forthcoming episode of Knight and Rose Show with Tyler O’Neil, so stay tuned to the podcast!