Daniel Herbster
reporting
The American Association of
Christian Schools is “the oldest national voice for Christian school
education.” Their office in Washington,
DC works to ensure that the rights of parents to choose how to educate their
children are protected, and to keep Christian educators informed of important
issues facing our nation. AdvanceUSA has
worked closely with AACS on a number of occasions and it is a real pleasure to
interview my colleague and good friend Maureen Wiebe who is the Legislative
Director for AACS in Washington, DC.
DH: What is the
mission of AACS in general, and specifically in Washington, DC?
MW: Hi Dan.
Thanks for this opportunity to talk about AACS and what we do here in
our DC office.
In general, AACS is a
service organization, so our mission is to provide services to our Christian
schools to aid them in the great work they are doing. These services include educational materials
(journals, etc.), accreditation and certification for schools and teachers,
competitions for students, and legislative oversight. I think many people are most familiar with
AACS through our National Fine Arts Competition, but our scope of service is
actually much larger than that.
Specifically in Washington,
DC, we are responsible for the
legislative oversight aspect of the AACS services. Our goal here is to be a liaison between our
Christian schools and the federal government.
While we don't seek federal funds for our ministries, we want those in
the government to know we are here so our freedoms continue to be
protected. In addition, we strive to participate
in the process on other issues, particularly those social issues which we as
Christians would take a strong stand – i.e. marriage, family values, the life
issue.
DH: What is your
position at AACS and what kind of projects and responsibilities does it
involve?
MW: I serve as
the Legislative Director for AACS. My
job is to track legislation and keep our schools and ministries informed of what
is happening on Capitol Hill that might affect our schools. I also work to keep those in the government
aware of the issues that are important to the AACS ministries. This requires me to attend meetings, network
with other conservatives and staffers on the Hill, meet with Congressmen,
communicate with our schools through email letters and alerts, and do some
speaking at teacher conventions. In
addition, our office here sends out a weekly email newsletter called "The
Washington Flyer" which keeps people informed of current events that
affect our ministries.
DH: Why is it so
important that Christian education have an advocate in our nation’s capital?