STOP what you're doing and let's HELP THIS KID by MAKING NOISE. He's a licensed EMT and volunteer firefighter - and Fremont, Nebraska just told him he can't have a paid fire job BECAUSE HE WAS HOMESCHOOLED!
Coates is 22. He already rides with Cedar Bluffs Fire as a volunteer and holds a Nebraska EMT license.
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"Make a career out of it would be the goal, to get paid to do what you love," he told WOWT.
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The April posting he applied under asked for "graduation from high school." The city said his diploma did not count because Nebraska treats homeschool as unaccredited.
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Fremont later rewrote the description to "graduation from an accredited high school." HR director Jennifer McDuffee said accreditation was already implied.
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"I would say it's a standard understanding that when someone requests a high school diploma or GED that they're asking for an accredited diploma," McDuffee said.
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Homeschools in Nebraska operate as Rule 13 exempt schools. Parents file annually and meet hour rules without state accreditation.
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"We understood that our homeschool operated legally under Nebraska's Rule 13," his father, Seth Coates, told the Omaha World-Herald. "What we never imagined was that the City of Fremont would treat the absence of accreditation as a basis for disqualifying Andrew from public employment."
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JoAnn Coates taught Andrew and his five siblings at home. About 30 homeschool families packed the Civil Service Commission hearing.
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Cedar Bluffs Fire Chief Chris Lichtenberg told the board the city is passing on a firefighter he already trusts. "I feel the city of Fremont's really missing out here, and in my mind, because of his home schooling, you guys are discriminating against him."
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Commissioner Doug Backens rejected that word. "I don't think there was any discrimination against him, and when they use that word, I don't care to hear that word out there."
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Chairman Steve Tellatin noted the original posting's ambiguity. The commission took no action and said city policy is not theirs to rewrite.
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Seth Coates said the family now has 30 days to file in court. Andrew said the fight is no longer only about his application.
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"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."
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#Nebraska #Fremont
@HarmeetKDhillon is this something @CivilRights can look into? @jbinnall and @AndrewOllis - the @TheKashFdn ??
🚨BREAKING: Fremont, Nebraska rejected a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter for a paid job because he was homeschooled.
Andrew Coates already runs into burning buildings for Cedar Bluffs Fire. He is a state-licensed EMT. He wanted to get paid to do the work he already does for free.
The job ad said “graduation from high school.” He has a diploma. The city said homeschool is unaccredited in Nebraska and turned him down in April.
After that, Fremont added the word “accredited” to the description.
His own chief, Chris Lichtenberg: “I feel the city of Fremont is really missing out here… because of his homeschooling, you guys are discriminating against him.”
Dozens of homeschool families showed up. The Civil Service Commission said city policy is not their job.
When your house is on fire, you will not ask the man carrying your kids out where he sat for algebra.
Andrew says it is not just about him anymore. He wants every homeschooler to get a fair shot.
🚨#BREAKING: Outrage is erupting after a 22-year-old who runs into BURNING BUILDINGS as a volunteer firefighter was told he isn't qualified to be a paid firefighter...
...because he was HOMESCHOOLED.
Then the city changed the job posting to cover it up.
His name is Andrew Coates. He's 22 years old, in Nebraska.
Right now, today, he runs into burning buildings as a volunteer firefighter for Cedar Bluffs Fire. He is a state-licensed EMT.
He is doing the job. For free.
All he wanted was to get PAID to do it. In his words: "Make a career out of it would be the goal. To get paid to do what you love."
So he applied to the Fremont Fire Department.
And in April, the city rejected him. Why?
Because his high school diploma says he was homeschooled.
That's it. That's the whole disqualification.
Not his EMT license.
Not his fitness.
Not his record.
Not his experience pulling people out of fires ALREADY!!
...how he was educated.
The job posting he applied to said "graduation from high school."
That's all it said.
He graduated high school.
He has a diploma.
And AFTER they rejected him, the city went back and added the word "accredited" to the job description.
His own fire chief, the man who has watched Andrew work, showed up to defend him:
"I feel the city of Fremont is really missing out here, and in my mind, because of his homeschooling, you guys are discriminating against him."
Over THIRTY homeschool families showed up to stand behind this kid.
And the Civil Service Commission? They said it isn't their job to touch city policy.
Homeschoolers are literally a generation of kids who read ABOVE grade level, who work with their HANDS, who volunteer in their communities, who show up for their neighbors.
And this young man is the proof.
At 22, he's a certified EMT and a volunteer firefighter, while plenty of his peers are on a couch.
When your house is on fire at 3 a.m., I promise you will not ask the man dragging your children out where he went to high school.
You will not ask if his diploma was accredited.
You will thank GOD he came.
Andrew isn't even fighting for himself anymore. His words:
"I think now it's turned into we want to make sure that every homeschooler has an equal opportunity."
That's a better man than the policy that rejected him.
Fremont, you have a licensed EMT and an active firefighter begging to serve your city. And you turned him down over paperwork, then rewrote the paperwork to cover it.
Fix this.
Hire him!!!!!!!
Meet Nicole Suh. Nicole is a far left extremist here on a student visa from Germany. Nicole thinks it's funny to post a video dancing on Charlie Kirk's grave with the sound of him getting murdered playing in the background.
Nicole is a student at Texas State University. No one here on a student visa should be celebrating political assassinations.
Meet Sara Larsen. Sara thought it was funny to bake a cake and show up to a Charlie Kirk memorial celebrating his murder.
Sara's father is Loren Larsen who is the CEO of Videra Health in Salt Lake City.
DeSantis is dead right, impeach Judge Tiffany Baker NOW.
She cut loose a child rapist on bail, and he went on to rape, torture, and murder a 5-year-old girl.
Any judge playing catch-and-release with monsters like this is complicit in the bloodshed.
BREAKING: A trans man in Canada who goes by “Alice” Michael Attwood is still free after stabbed his 7 year old son and 8 year old daughter, severing the girls throat and leaving her on a tube.
@GreatLakesWife_ A bad mom would not care to comfort and calm her own baby. My first daughter was very difficult and the only thing that would calm her was bouncing on an exercise ball.
@magdalenacals I got my period back at 4 months PP, that definitely plays a role in milk supply, especially during it. I started offering feeds before and after all naps and that seemed to get my supply back up decently. Good luck mama, breastfeeding is tough sometimes