Christian Mom Sues Oregon School District After Faith-Based Homeschool Curriculum Is Denied Funding
An Oregon mother says Christian homeschool families should not be excluded from public education benefits because of their faith.
NEWS
Glorious Grace
9/28/20262 min read
An Oregon mother has decided to take her local school district to federal court after officials refused to reimburse her for Christian homeschool curriculum.
Tessa Bulzan, a mother of five who homeschools her two oldest children, filed the lawsuit on Sept. 22 against the Hillsboro School District and its Board of Education. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and alleges violations of her First and 14th Amendment rights.
The dispute centers on the district’s Homeschool Partnership, a program that gives homeschooling families access to public-school resources, optional classes and activities, and money for approved educational expenses. The district currently tells families that reimbursement is available for approved non-religious curriculum and supplies.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing Bulzan, a program representative initially told her that she could use any curriculum, including religious materials.
Bulzan chose Abeka and Classical Conversations and also enrolled her children in classes through the Firmly Planted Hillsboro co-op. All three incorporate Christian teaching into their academic material. However, when Bulzan later submitted the expenses for reimbursement, the district denied them.
ADF said that district employees pointed specifically to the Christian nature of the materials, saying reimbursement was denied because of the “Christian and biblical worldview” being taught and because Christian beliefs were integrated throughout the core subjects.
Bulzan appealed the decision, but the district stood by the denial.
She then challenged the decision through the district’s complaint process, arguing that families should not lose access to a public benefit simply because the educational materials they choose are religious.
“Religious families who choose to homeschool aren’t second-class citizens,” ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson said in announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also argues that Hillsboro School District reimburses families for materials and experiences reflecting a wide range of viewpoints while excluding Christian-centered curriculum because of its religious perspective. That claim has not yet been decided by the court.
The district’s Homeschool Partnership website confirms that it keeps an approved curriculum list but does not publish it because the list changes as new materials are added. Parents are told to contact the program directly if they want to know whether a particular curriculum is approved.
For now, the case remains in its early stages as Bulzan’s challenge moves forward in federal court.
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