Recently, a 14-year-old student named Shay Clark was expelled from the Christian high school that she was attending. For a teenager to get expelled from high school, they usually have to do something extreme and outrageous. However, for this Ontario, Calif. girl, it took much less for her to be kicked out of school. Clark was told that she could not return to Ontario Christian School because she has lesbian parents.

The superintendent wrote in the expulsion notice that “her family does not meet the policies of admission.” According to the school policy, parents of students are not allowed to live lives that are “inconsistent with a positive Christian life style.” At least one parent must be a good god-fearing Christian whom does not live with a partner out of wedlock. Administrators learned of her parent’s “inappropriate” relationship after the teenager was reprimanded for talking to the crowd during a football game.

How did Clark get admitted to a school with such a policy in the first place? On the school’s website, it explicitly states that there is a required family interview for all applicants before being admitted. It also states that the family must be regular churchgoers and active in the community. It is not plausible for the school to keep track of everything that a family does. What happens if a student misses church one week? Is the student responsible for tattling on their parents if they do something that is unholy and against school policy? The school is obviously not conducting thorough interviews if a girl, with parents who are not even allowed to be married, is admitted.

Now, it is not known whether or not Clark’s parents are good god-fearing Christians, but it is safe to assume that they are not committing debaucheries left and right. People with dubious morals are usually the last people sending their children to Christian schools.

In addition to Christian schools around the country, there are private schools that choose their students by the color of their skin. As it turns out, people can show their prejudices just as long as they pay for it. While free speech activists will argue that the schools are protected under our Constitution, it does not mean that such institutions are right or good for our country. The schools are not only isolating their students from the real world, but they are telling another generation of kids that it is okay to discriminate against people of different racial or religious backgrounds. Use of free speech to support backwards and offensive ideologies does not help America move past its racist and sexist history.

Furthermore, those involved with this Christian and other discriminatory educational institutions are simply burying their heads in the ground. Ontario is less than an hour away from Los Angeles. Other discriminatory schools are in the heart of urban America. As hard as they may try, they are not going to be able to avoid the unrighteous lives of lesbians and other heathens while living near such a diverse area. Here is a suggestion: move. Just as conservatives tell anti-war protesters to move to Canada, these Christian conservatives and racists need to pack up their bags. There are plenty of Amish and Mennonites living in the ignorant 18th century out in Pennsylvania. They would fit right in. These are the same people who favor federal funding for private schools.

Such instances of discrimination in private schools show the problem with any funding for these schools from the government, including vouchers that our president supports. Even if an intelligent child wanted to go to a specific private school that would challenge him or her academically, they potentially would be rejected – not because of inferior intellect, but due to ideological or religious differences. Racism, classism and prejudice still rule our nation’s private schools. Having these schools exist is harmful enough to out nation’s citizens; we do not need the federal government supporting them through vouchers.