Andrew Coates has a state EMT license in Nebraska and is a volunteer firefighter who wanted to turn that volunteer work into a profession. But while the state of Nebraska simply says firemen have to be high school graduates, the city is claiming that it will only accept diplomas from accredited high schools, excluding homeschoolers like him.
My mother homeschooled me from kindergarten through 12th grade, and we used a program that does have official accreditation. But most homeschoolers use a much more individualized and unofficial curriculum, and since public officials usually despise parents as educational authorities, many of them refuse to recognize the validity of homeschool education, even though homeschoolers overall consistently score higher on standardized tests.
This rejection of Coates has nothing to do with competency, given the disastrous scores and increasing incompetence of many public school students, and Coates’ own state EMT license. It has everything to do with the city of Fremont wanting to force people to go through educational channels which politicians can control.
If you watch the video below, you will notice that the written requirements for the position did not match what the city’s Karen of an HR director, Jennifer McDuffee, told Coates. To complete the ridiculous persecution, the city then added the word “accredited” to its job description specifically to exclude Coates.
🚨#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!!!!!!!
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) September 21, 2026
Coates appealed to the Civil Service Commission, but the chairman rejected any accusation of discrimination. So the young man cannot work at the Fremont fire department despite his work experience in Cedar Bluffs. He is now hoping to find a job as a fireman somewhere not too far away. “Making a career out of it would be the goal: to get paid to do what you love,” the 22-year-old said. He added, “I think now it’s turned into we want to make sure that every homeschooler has an equal opportunity.”
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WOWT News14 reported on September 19 that about 30 supporters showed up to back Coates when he went before the commission, but that the commission claimed that it cannot interfere in city policy.
Chris Lichtenberg, Cedar Bluffs fire chief, who has seen how competent Coates is on the job, can’t believe that the young man’s experience doesn’t count for anything in Fremont. “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,” Lichtenberg exclaimed.
Republicans currently dominate the state government of Nebraska, and Fremont is supposedly conservative-leaning, but even in Republican states and cities, it is not unusual to find woke officials who despise homeschooling. Many conservatives do not understand just how thoroughly Commies have infiltrated our institutions in every state.