Takeaways from AP’s report on the taxpayer-funded growth of classical Christian schools

Conservatives are banding together to grow classical Christian schools by leveraging new taxpayer-funded scholarships.

These scholarships have rapidly expanded in states around the country. They mean half of school-age children in the U.S. are now eligible to apply for state money to attend private schools.

Last year, the Association of Classical Christian Schools, or ACCS, formed a coalition with some powerful conservative groups, including Turning Point Education and the Heritage Foundation. Their goal is to convert or create 5,000 new classical Christian schools in the next decade with 1.5 million students nationwide.

“It sounds like a very ambitious goal, but this money has never been there before,” said ACCS President David Goodwin.

He sees a historic opportunity to take a share of public funding and educate Christian leaders. Critics worry this movement will harm public schools and create church-state issues.

ACCS, which has ties to the Trump administration, is the oldest network of classical Christian schools. Its founder is Doug Wilson, a conservative Idaho pastor and writer.

The Associated Press interviewed more than 30 ACCS leaders and parents, as well as more than a dozen other experts and advocates. The reporting was done from Washington, D.C., inside schools in Texas and at the group’s annual conference in Atlanta.

Here are some takeaways from the AP’s reporting.

The Association of Classical Christian Schools calls its campaign the “Battle for the American School.” It’s a riff on the 2022 bestselling book Goodwin co-wrote with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who sent his children to ACCS schools before joining President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Their book, “Battle for the American Mind,” extols classical education and critiques the prevailing public school model.

Hegseth remains a booster: The Pentagon recently introduced a form of classical education into government-run schools on military bases.

ACCS membership includes about 500 schools, but it has grown by nearly 200 since 2019. Goodwin, its president, credits a pandemic-era mistrust of public education, when debates ignited over school closures, books, race, sexuality and gender identity.

Not all ACCS schools accept government money, but many that do now advertise state funding options on their websites.

Classical education, popular among conservatives, was already on the rise before more taxpayer funds became available. It exists in many forms, in religious schools outside ACCS, homeschooling groups, secular and charter schools.

Many classical Christian schools go a step further in their focus on reclaiming and promoting Western Christian culture.

The ACCS version of classical Christian education is proudly erudite: The Oxford-educated Christian writer C.S. Lewis is a lodestar, and students study the liberal arts and the “great books.” Its teaching methods draw from ancient and medieval sources with a strong focus on Western Christian history.

Doug Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist who has made headlines for preaching at a Pentagon worship service and advocating for the repeal of women’s voting rights. He is also a pioneer in classical Christian education.

In 1981, he helped start the Logos School in Moscow, Idaho, one of the first in the modern classical Christian movement. He founded ACCS in 1994.

ACCS is less pugilistic than its founder. It includes socially conservative Christians across denominations and hasn’t adopted Wilson’s more fringe beliefs. Schools agree to a statement of faith, including that same-sex relationships and gender transitions are off-limits, but families may not be aware of Wilson’s teachings or influence. He still advises the ACCS board, though, and his books are required reading in some of its schools.

This summer, Texas began rolling out $1 billion in public funding that eligible families can put toward private education expenses.

Keith Castello, an ACCS administrator in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, said the influx of taxpayer money “completely transforms the possibility” of increasing access to Christian education.

Now that Texas offers money for private school tuition, he encourages parents to use it.

Castello is launching three classical Christian schools this fall. At one of his startup schools, an estimated 22 of 25 students are using Texas Education Freedom Accounts, or TEFA.

The Texas program prioritizes low-income students and those with disabilities, but its income limits this year go up to $165,000 for a family of four, opening the door to middle-income families. Eligible students can receive at least $10,474 for private school.

At Coram Deo Academy, an ACCS school where Castello served as vice president of operations until last year, more than 360 students out of 2,000 have been approved for TEFA.

Coram Deo could potentially receive $3.5 million in TEFA funds this year, equal to nearly 17% of its budget, according to Scott Head, the school’s chief financial officer. The taxpayer funds are also on track to cover half the school’s financial aid budget.

For years, Democrats and rural Republicans in Texas blocked efforts to create education savings accounts, worried about their effect on public schools, especially in rural areas.

In the U.S., most private schools are religious. Securing public money for them fulfills a longstanding goal for Christian conservatives but raises issues over church-state separation.

“It’s an abject violation of religious freedom to force a taxpayer to fund a school that discriminates against their faith,” said Rachel Laser, head of the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Castello has heard the critiques that these programs will hurt public schools. He counters that he and other private school parents still pay taxes that support public education.

“I’m not against the public schools,” Castello said, but he believes the line between public and private is blurring.

“If private schools are being funded by taxpayer funds, then what is the difference between public and private?” he asked.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Students at Covenant Christian Academy look on a during chapel at the private school in Colleyville, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Keith Castello has a conversation at Coram Deo Academy in Flower Mound, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

FILE - Pastor Doug Wilson walks through the church hall after Sunday services at the new campus for Christ Church and its Logos School, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

Students pray during a U.S. history class at Covenant Christian Academy in Colleyville, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

ROME (AP) — An hour after Robert Prevost was elected as the first American pope, Villanova's athletic director texted sports travel expert John Anthony with the idea.

“It just said, ‘ Villanova - Notre Dame. Basketball game in Vatican City?’” Anthony said, recounting how he then responded to Eric Roedl a moment later “with all caps, ‘YES. I’M SERIOUS. WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS.’”

Now, 1 ½ years later, the idea is about to become reality: the Villanova and Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams will meet in a doubleheader in Rome — not quite Vatican City, but close enough — on Nov. 1 that will mark the start of the college basketball season.

The Catholic universities are promoting the games as a celebration of their shared mission and heritage. The event has been dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off and there will be a Vatican component: Villanova alumnus Pope Leo XIV is scheduled — health permitting — to hold a private audience Oct. 31 with all four teams and their traveling fans. A total of about 7,000 people are expected in the Paul VI audience hall inside the Vatican.

“He will know who they (the players) are. He’s a true, blue Villanovan," said the Rev. Rob Hagan, Villanova’s longtime team chaplain, adding that Leo used to attend Wildcats games at the Palestra, the Philadelphia arena known as “The Cathedral of College Basketball."

“And of course he’s not unfamiliar with Notre Dame and their history and legacy,” Hagan added. "I think he’ll be very dialed in and excited to be part of it.”

The plans involving the pope were made before the 71-year-old Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed last week and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Hagan said: "We’re rooting for him.”

Leo graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Villanova, the Augustinian school near Philadelphia. He was born in Chicago — not all that far from Notre Dame, which is located in South Bend, Indiana.

“To have a pope who grew up an hour and a half from Notre Dame, who went to Villanova, who is an open sports fan, who consistently speaks about uniting the world and the ability of sports to bring people together — it’s just a unifying occasion that sport uniquely can do,” added Anthony, who has also organized college football games in Ireland for years.

Asked about the upcoming games on the papal plane during a recent trip to France, Leo said, “They tell me that the people coming to the match, 90% are Villanova and 10% Notre Dame, so the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side.”

It turns out Leo may have received some inflated numbers.

"Yes, the turnout among the fans has been phenomenal. It will be a full arena. It’s safe to say there will be more Villanova fans than Notre Dame, but no, it won’t be anywhere near nine to one,” Anthony said.

The games will be played at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, where Cassius Clay — before he became Muhammad Ali — boxed to a gold medal during the 1960 Rome Olympics.

While the arena is only about a half-hour drive from the Vatican, the pope is not expected to attend the games.

Popes regularly go to sports stadiums when they are travelling internationally, but in those cases the pope is presiding over a papal event: A Mass, a youth vigil or some other event tied to his mission as Christ’s vicar on Earth. He doesn’t go as a spectator, but rather as the chief celebrant.

As a result, the pope’s attendance at a basketball game, even a season opener featuring his alma mater, seems unlikely — especially considering his health condition. Still, organizers are preparing for the possibility that Leo shows up.

“He can throw up the ball for the tip off. He can do whatever wants and we will say, ‘Thank you,’” Anthony said. “We certainly have made contingency plans.”

The Vatican didn’t immediately respond when asked if Leo would attend the games. Nov. 1 is a Sunday and a major Catholic holiday — All Saints’ Day — which usually involves a papal Mass and noontime prayer at the Vatican. The men’s game starts at 3:30 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. ET) and the women’s game starts at 6 p.m. local (noon ET).

There should be a decent contingent of American cardinals and archbishops at the games. Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez will celebrate a private mass for traveling fans in St. Peter’s Basilica the day before the games.

The men’s game will mark a Villanova debut on home soil for 7-foot-3 freshman center Luigi Suigo, a 19-year-old Italian who is a projected NBA draft lottery pick.

Organizers cut off ticket sales in the U.S. to hold some space in the arena for local fans hoping to see Suigo, who has been nicknamed the “Italian Wemby” after San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who is French.

In the women’s game, the main attraction will be Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, last season’s Naismith national defensive player of the year and a top WNBA prospect.

Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points last season and is the only major conference player this century to record 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 400 steals prior to the conclusion of their junior season.

“She plays with a motor that I don’t know we’ve ever seen before — just non-stop energy,” said Anthony, a Notre Dame alum.

The Michigan football team visited the Vatican in 2017, with then-coach Jim Harbaugh giving Pope Francis a personalized winged helmet complete with the pope’s name and number (226) and a pair of size 11 Jordan Brand sneakers.

While there have been high-level college basketball games in Europe before — Kentucky beat Michigan in London in 2022; plus the Armed Forces Classic in Germany — organizers for this event are taking it to a new level.

“For instance, we had the court constructed in the U.S. and it went over by sea to Italy,” Anthony said. “This is a very high-quality production in every way. From exterior signage to interior hospitality spaces to scoreboards and shot clocks and video boards.”

With 7,000 traveling fans spending $3,000 each, Anthony estimated that the event will inject $21 million into the Italian economy.

Anthony is the executive vice president of On Location, a global leader in sports hospitality that arranges ticket packages for the Super Bowl. On Location also worked on the Milan Cortina Olympics and the soccer World Cup this year.

“We’re living in the center of this sports tourism global boom,” he said. “This is the biggest year in the history of that industry.”

In order to televise the men’s game — Bill Raftery will be the analyst — Fox is eliminating one of its NFL pregame shows that Sunday. The women’s game will be shown on FS1.

Tip-off for the men’s game (at 9:30 a.m. ET) comes when church goers in much of the U.S. usually attend Sunday mass.

Maybe Pope Leo will have something to say about that.

Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Vatican City contributed to this report.

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. See AP’s full men’s basketball coverage here and women's college basketball coverage here.

Pope Leo XIV is presented with flowers as he leaves at the end of the general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE - Villanova's Jalen Brunson, left, leans on coach Jay Wright during a timeout during the second half of an NCAA men's college basketball tournament first-round game against Radford, Thursday, March 15, 2018, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Pope Leo XIV thanks the faithful during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)