# Association of Christian Schools International

The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), founded in 1978, is an international organization of evangelical Christian schools. Its headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It offers tiers of oversight, from school accreditation to teacher certificates. Schools and even homeschoolers can also join as members.

## Purposes

ACSI is a Protestant association of Christian schools. Its stated mission is to strengthen Christian schools and equip Christian educators worldwide as they prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ. It supports the belief that Scripture is the revealed Word of God and should be taught as truth.
The association offers multiple services including accreditation for early-education programs and primary and secondary schools, certification, curriculum and testing products (under the trade name "Purposeful Design Publications"), legal/legislative services, and urban school services.

## History

ACSI was founded in 1978 through the merger of three associations: The National Christian School Education Association; The Ohio Association of Christian Schools; and the Western Association of Christian Schools. Various international schools have joined the network.
In 1994 ACSI's primary school and secondary school programs became officially recognized by the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA).
In 2023, it had 25,000 member schools in 100 countries.

## Governance

The governance of the organization is ensured by a President and Regional Presidents in the 5 Continental Regions Members.

## Affiliations

The organization is a member of the World Evangelical Alliance.

## Controversies

The association was accused of racism in 1987, while the board consisted of 29 white people and no racial minorities. In the 21st century right wing commentators have accused it of being woke because of its support for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

## Lawsuit

In spring 2006, the Association of Christian Schools International sued the University of California system alleging that the rejection of several Christian science courses was "viewpoint discrimination" which violated the constitutional rights of applicants from Christian schools whose high school coursework is deemed inadequate preparation for college. The lawsuit was brought by the parents of six children who had not been rejected from the university. In August 2006, the case Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns was allowed to proceed against the university while lawsuits against individual school officials were thrown out.
The National Center for Science Education noted, "One of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs is Wendell Bird, a former staff attorney for the Institute for Creation Research. As a special assistant attorney general for Louisiana, he defended the state's "equal time" law, which was ruled to be unconstitutional in Edwards v. Aguillard. The National Center for Science Education works in collaboration with National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association, which consider creationism and intelligent design to be pseudoscience.
The Association retained leading intelligent design proponent Michael Behe to testify in the case as an expert witness. Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks were excellent works for high school students and he defended that view in a deposition.
On March 28, 2008 the defendants won a legal victory when their motion for partial summary judgment was granted, and the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment was denied. On August 8, 2008, Judge Otero entered summary judgment against plaintiff ACSI.