Ken Smitherman, President (retired 2009)
Association of Christian Schools International
As I consider ACSI’s initiative to aggressively serve urban Christian schools, I am excited even though I sometimes feel overwhelmed as well. These schools represent an opportunity that has been too long ignored. Throughout America’s urban centers, countless thousands of children struggle with the plight of poverty. The very nature of this condition sentences many families who live in the heart of our cities to having no choice in either the quality or the philosophy of their children’s education.
As we identify the areas in which we can best serve the Christian schools that educate these often forgotten children, we have determined that we must address the issue of choice. We believe that offering choice to economically disenfranchised families should be one of our primary services. And so, this past fall the dream of an ACSI Children’s Tuition Fund became a reality. As the Fund grows and becomes capable of providing financial assistance to needy families, we will experience a “winwin” situation: Families will be enabled to choose Christian schooling, while the schools that qualify to accept Children’s Tuition Fund recipients will receive tuition support that enables them to offer high quality programs.
This program was designed with the sincere desire to offer choice where choice does not now exist. It is one significant step toward breaking the bonds of economically deprived children, who usually represent minority populations. It is an effort to begin changing the reality that many families are still separate and unequal. It is an effort that will afford children the advantages of Christian schooling—an education that offers a strong spiritual formation and intellectual development along with hope for this life and for eternity.
The Meantime Volume 1 Number 2