Following considerable public pressure exerted by a nationwide grassroots campaign in support of Nebraska volunteer firefighter Andrew Coates, whose job application for a full-time position was rejected by the city of Fremont due to him being homeschooled, the city council voted unanimously Tuesday to clarify its hiring regulations to treat homeschool credentials the same as any other educational credentials.
The controversy began in April when the 22-year-old Coates applied for a full-time position as a firefighter for the Fremont Fire Department. He had previously served as a volunteer for the nearby Cedar Bluffs Fire Department for two years, during which time he became a state-licensed EMT and completed 78 college credits, earning a 3.8 GPA. However, he was subsequently notified that his application had been rejected because of his homeschool education, which, according to the city’s HR department, was not from an “accredited” school and was therefore disqualifying.
But as Coates has pointed out, such a distinction was not indicated as a requirement during his application process. The requirement for a high school diploma from an “accredited” school only appeared on the application website after Coates had applied for the position. This calls into question the claims of some Fremont City Council members, who have insisted that the city’s disqualification of Coates was not a “homeschooling issue.” “It started as an accredited, non-accredited [issue], and in this case, the applicant was homeschooled. So, it wasn’t really directed at that. It was just part of the way that it played out,” Councilman Paul Von Behren told WOWT.
Nonetheless, in front of a standing room-only crowd of homeschooling families and other residents who packed Fremont’s city hall, the eight-member city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to change its hiring policy so that homeschooled applicants are no longer excluded on educational grounds. The victory was especially sweet for the Coates family, coming as an emotional ending to a six-month-long ordeal to try and get the city’s policy changed.
As observers are noting, the city council’s decision appears to have come only after groups like Family Research Council brought national attention to the issue. An FRC Action alert sent out last week motivated over 2,000 citizens to contact the city council to demand answers as to why Coates’s application was denied.
“There’s really no reason that this had to take that long,” Brent Keilen, vice president for Strategic Initiatives at FRC, emphasized during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” “If you talk to the Coates family, they’ve been engaging this … process this whole time trying to raise awareness [and] building awareness in the community. They’ve gone and sat in on previous city council meetings. So the fact that it has taken this long is really surprising.”
FRC President Tony Perkins concurred, detailing how public pressure seems to be the only reason the city council actually took up the issue. “What I found interesting is that the city council was complaining about all of the contacts that were being made over the last week since we put a focus on this, but they weren’t addressing it on their own. In fact, a FOIA request showed that the Coates family reached out to the mayor’s office 10 times from April to July trying to get this matter resolved, and only after we had folks from across the country starting to weigh in did they take it seriously and address this.”
Citizens who spoke at Tuesday’s city council meeting also underscored how Andrew’s case is just one example of a much larger issue that must be addressed. Chris Lichtenberg, the fire chief of the Cedar Bluffs Fire Department where Andrew volunteered, emphasized that character must be paramount in good hiring practices.
“We need qualified individuals who can perform their duties and make good decisions and serve our communities safely, but I also believe those standards need to measure a person’s abilities, qualifications, and character, not simply where they receive their education,” he observed. “Andrew is a young man who has demonstrated his commitment to public service. … His educational background should not prevent him from having the opportunity to compete alongside other applicants. I also want to recognize this issue is much bigger than Andrew Coates. There are young men and women throughout Nebraska that have completed their education through homeschooling. Many are pursuing careers in law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical services, and other professions. In fact, I believe the Fremont Fire Department themselves has three current employees that were homeschooled. We should be encouraging individuals to serve their communities, not creating unnecessary barriers that prevent them from even getting through the application process.”
Andrew’s father Seth also addressed the city council, detailing the lengths that his family have gone to in order to try and resolve his son’s situation. “For months we came here. We spoke publicly, we wrote emails, we made phone calls, we asked questions, we asked for meetings,” he described. We asked for someone — anyone to simply sit — down with us and look at what happened and have a conversation. That should not be extraordinary. That should not be how local government works. Citizens should not have to hire attorneys to be heard. They should not have to file petitions just to get serious questions answered. They should not need national attention before their own city hall decides their concerns deserve another look.”
Coates went on to describe the responsibility and freedom that citizens have to correct injustices in America, noting his experiences at FRC’s Pray Vote Stand Summit over the weekend.
“When our government refuses to listen, citizens still have a responsibility and a path forward,” he remarked. “I learned three things in Washington, D.C. this last weekend. We pray for wisdom, courage, and humility for those entrusted to serve our community — that’s you. We vote, we participate, and we pay attention. And we hold those who serve accountable to the people that they represent. And we stand. We stand peacefully and lawfully for truth, accountability, and good government. We stand with our neighbors, and we stand for the simple principle that government exists to serve its citizens and not to ignore them. Pray, vote, stand, and do not mistake fixing tomorrow’s policy for answering what happened yesterday.”
