The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville Tennessee is attempting to run a religious public charter school funded by taxpayers that would provide an “explicitly biblical and Christian education.” The school filed the lawsuit The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville v. Knox County Board of Education in order to force the Board of Education to fund their religious school.
On January 27, 2026, FFRF and a coalition filed a motion to intervene as an interested party in this case. This was on behalf of Knox County taxpayers who are all parents of current or former Knox County public school students. The court determined that these taxpayers had a legal right to participate in the lawsuit.
The intervenors, including two faith leaders, intervened in a lawsuit on the side of the defendants, the Knox County Board of Education and its members. They oppose a public charter school that will indoctrinate students into one religion. Additionally, they want to ensure that public schools remain secular and open to all.
This lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The intervenors are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, The Education Law Center, Morrison Foerster, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and FFRF. Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover and Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg are serving as attorneys for the proposed intervenors.
The post FFRF and Coalition Seeks to Block Religious Public Charter School Wilberforce Academy appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
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