ACLJ Takes Case of Nebraska Firefighter Rejected Because He Was Homeschooled – Homeschool Graduates Are Not Second-Class Citizens

He was banned from being a firefighter simply because he was homeschooled.

The ACLJ is representing Andrew Coates, a 22-year-old Nebraska volunteer firefighter and licensed EMT, who was denied the opportunity to continue in the hiring process for a firefighter position with the city of Fremont, Nebraska, because his diploma came from a homeschool program.

Now the ACLJ is stepping in because a homeschool graduate who wants to dedicate his career to saving lives should not be treated like a second-class citizen.

This is not a case about someone seeking special treatment. Andrew already serves as a volunteer firefighter with the Cedar Bluffs Fire Department. He holds a Nebraska EMT license. He has completed extensive firefighter training and dedicated himself to protecting the people around him. He was even recently awarded “Rookie Firefighter of the Year” by his volunteer department.

Becoming a professional firefighter was not simply a job opportunity. It was his dream and the natural next step in a life already committed to public service. As Andrew explained, “To do this job for a living . . . that would be the dream. . . . Make a career out of it would be the goal, to get paid to do what you love.”

But when Andrew applied for a full-time job with the Fremont Fire Department, city officials decided that his homeschool diploma was not good enough. Think about that. This is a young man whom Nebraska already trusts to respond to emergencies – a young man who earned EMT credentials and completed firefighter training.

Yet the government concluded that his education was somehow insufficient because his Christian parents chose to homeschool him for religious reasons.

The injustice runs even deeper. Andrew’s family did exactly what Nebraska law permits them to do. As Christians, they lawfully homeschooled their son because of their religious convictions about how he should be educated and trained. They complied with Nebraska’s homeschool framework. They relied on the state’s assurance that homeschooling is a legitimate educational option.

The contradiction becomes even more glaring in light of guidance from the Nebraska Department of Education. State educational authorities have recognized that students who complete Nebraska’s homeschool pathway earn the credential the law contemplates and do not need to obtain a GED. In fact, a letter from the state explicitly indicated that a GED would not be “appropriate or necessary” for such graduates.

Yet the city of Fremont effectively treated Andrew’s lawful homeschool diploma as inadequate for public employment. The very educational choice Nebraska permits and recognizes became the basis for excluding a qualified applicant from the firefighter hiring process.

No American should face discrimination because of a lawful educational choice made by his parents. School choice cannot mean “choice now, consequences later.” And homeschool graduates cannot be treated as second-class citizens. As Andrew said in an interview, “We’re not mad about one applicant, my application. . . . I think now it’s turned into we want to make sure that every homeschooler has an equal opportunity.”

Today, millions of students are educated through homeschooling. Their parents make sacrifices to provide them with the education they believe is best. Those students go on to college, careers, military service, first-responder work, and public service. They contribute to their communities just like graduates of traditional public and private schools. In fact, I’ve had the profound privilege of being homeschooled myself, and that experience only deepens the conviction that homeschool graduates should be judged by their character, qualifications, and service.

The government has no business creating barriers that tell homeschool graduates they are somehow less qualified, less capable, or less worthy of opportunity.

This case is about equal opportunity. It is about parental rights. It is about educational freedom. It’s about religious liberty. And it is about ensuring that government does not turn a lawful choice to homeschool into a lifelong penalty.

Andrew pursued the city’s administrative review process, and the resulting conclusion only underscores the problem.

After a September 18 hearing on a petition he filed with the city to state his case, the Fremont Civil Service Commission found that there were “irregularities in this Firefighter/EMT selection process that relates to Mr. Coates.” But the commission then concluded that, under the civil service ordinance, only the appointing authority could set the minimum qualifications for the position and that the commission lacked authority to set aside Andrew’s exclusion or restore him to the application process.

In other words, even the city’s own review process recognized that something went wrong, but Andrew remained shut out. The ACLJ is now exploring all legal options to ensure his rights are protected and to defend the rights of all homeschoolers as they seek careers.

We just sent a litigation hold letter, putting the city of Fremont on notice that federal litigation is reasonably anticipated and demanding the immediate preservation of all relevant evidence. The city cannot delete or lose the emails, text messages, meeting notes, recordings, job-posting drafts, or other records that could reveal why it rejected Andrew’s homeschool diploma – and why it changed the written job requirements after excluding him. If Fremont treated Andrew unfairly because he was homeschooled, the public deserves to know how and why that decision was made. And we will hold them accountable so that this can’t ever happen to another homeschooler again.

The ACLJ is proud to represent Andrew Coates. Take action with the ACLJ as we defend Andrew and the choice to homeschool, and ensure our children are not treated as second-class citizens.

Sign our petition: Stop the Ban on Homeschool Firefighters.