Kyle Henderson is Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Athens, Texas. In this article, he warns that religious schools should not seek or accept vouchers.
He writes:
“I have been a pastor for over 30 years. I have been the pastor of a 150-year-old Baptist church in East Texas for 18 years. We operate a distinctively Christian grade school averaging 75 students. Our students have thrived going on to high academic success. I know how tempting it could be to take voucher money. I know the burden on families that scrimp and save to send their kids to our school. I have bought lots of cookie dough, sponsored walk-a-thons and attended fundraisers. I also know the freedom of operating a school that is able to openly talk about Christ, a place where prayer is a part of each class, where sharing Christian testimony is encouraged and where chapel and worship are a regular part of the school.
“These government payouts seek to fill in for faith. They whisper from the shadows that they are the answer to the problems of funding a Christian school. God does not need vouchers.
“Vouchers and all its versions including “school choice options” rightly come with responsibilities and obligations to the government, but Jesus told us we cannot serve two masters. These vouchers are either a grab to control faith-based schools or an irresponsible, unaccountable disbursement of public funds. Either the government will start exerting control over faith-based schools, or they will send money to schools that do not have to meet any standards. The only viable choice for a faith-based school is to reject the funds.
“Faith is strong and alive in America because of the freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. In the places where this is not true, the church is an empty shell. Depending on the state for funds is a death sentence for free religion and vibrant faith….
“I prefer the system where those who love faith bear the cost of that faith. We don’t need vouchers to solve the problems of education in the state of Texas. We need legislators who are courageous enough to help public schools to thrive, to return full funding to Texas schools and even increase it. I am part of Pastors for Texas Children, because we are mobilizing all over the state to fight for children, fight for freedom of religion and against a private view of education that draws money away from already struggling schools.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Integrity! Bravo!
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Home schoolers can drop in for sports. I don’t see a problem with home schoolers or religious schoolers dropping into public school classes or activities on an ala carte basis. That is all inclusive. Vouchers are a bad idea because it is public funding in the direction of exclusion and segregation by its nature.
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Dropping in “a la carte” is not a model that any schooling can accept.
Shall we count the ways?
A) Funding – does the school get whole pupil funding for the “as I want” student?
B) VAM – how does a student who attends only part of the time factor into the evaluation of a teacher?
C) Disruption to the class – homeschooled students may not know the rules of a classroom or the routines – these students could at worst be disruptive themselves, or, take away a lot of class time each time they need to be accommodated and brought up to speed.
D) Testing – is the teacher responsible if they fail a test but hardly ever came to class?
E) Class size – if we acknowledge that realistically teachers cannot accommodate unlimited amounts of students, does a “drop in” student count as a permanent spot on a roster? What if the class they want to “drop in” on, on their schedule, is full? Do they have the right to disrupt a carefully planned teacher’s load?
F) Related, if we keep class spaces free for homeschooled students, does this bloat school teaching rosters un-necessarily to accommodate the whims of the homeschoolers?
I’m not against home schooling, but depicting classes as something anyone can attend when they choose or not regardless of these realities, just sounds like a really REALLY bad idea.
School teams and activities, might not be as disruptive but also are not as intrinsic to the survival of school communities as the consistency needed in a classroom. Although with an athletic team there are issues about meeting medical approvals as well as the coach knowing the health of the child so they know how to push them. Non-sports activities someone who doesn’t know what’s going on and has no intent on attending consistently might be detrimental, but public school students do that all the time too.
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Homeschooling is a separate entity and should be kept that way. If they want to be a part of the activities at school then they need to enroll just like all the other full-time students. Their parent have made choice they must live with that choice.
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Also, G) Liability issues
Oh, but NYS homeschoolers can broaden their horizons by enrolling in a charter school. The district of residence will be able to claim some state aid for that student but an amount that is far less than the charter school “tuition” the district is required to pay. Another drain on the public school budget!
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My late father was a pastor in several Lutheran churches in Michigan. They had schools, supported by the entire congregation, and free for the children of the congregation. He would have agreed entirely with Pastor Henderson!
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WOWZER!
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The Lutheran schools in Indiana and Wisconsin are highly in favor in school vouchers! The head of the Lutheran school Assoc. in Fort Wayne and Tony Bennett are best of friends. Concordia High School in Fort Wayne receives over $1,000,000 in government aide. Oddly, enough, their students never needed it before.
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You might check to see how the $1M “aid” is being spent.
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Bravo.
Sent from my iPhone
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It’s so refreshing to find a person of faith who is not a Dominionist (or doesn’t seem to be at face value). Too bad clowns like Mike Pence, Sarah Palin, Dan Patrick, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee (Jeez…the list goes on…), etc. don’t listen to Pastor Henderson.
Oh…I forgot…the entity that these ghouls worship is spelled M-A-M-M-O-N….
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Let me play devil’s advocate. Society is paying for children to learn the 3Rs and play together as citizens. Maybe private schools and online schools should get half the per capita funding for the 3Rs. Maybe public schools cultivate an atmosphere of lackadaisicalness? What if every public school student was required to pay $100 tuition up front every year? 1 % skin in the game for public parents and students?
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“What if every public school student was required to pay $100 tuition up front every year?”
And if they don’t?
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What is with all the weasel words like “maybe”? If you have evidence for your views, then present it. If not, then this is merely rhetorical speculation.
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What’s the evidence that there is anything magical about free K-12? Why not have age 2-21 subsidized at 95%? 95% social responsibility and 5% personal responsibility, is that the line that tips me from being a socialist to a rabid teapartier?
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TC, I’ve got plenty of skin in the game between property taxes, state income tax, and years of contributing to PTA fundraisers, not mention a few NYS Lottery scratch-off cards from time to time. I do not grumble about school tax increases; I am very glad to contribute to ensure a quality education for all the children in my district.
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I am surprised but delighted. My dad’s family is from Athens, TX, and he grew up there. My grandfather’s name is on the charter for Henderson County Jr. College. There would be many pews filled with my family there. I’m glad to read this, and I agree with the pastor wholeheartedly. If you are wanting private education, then it should be funded privately, and in the case of religious schools, it is about the sacrifice for the family and the teaching of values and morals inherent in that religion. Bravo Pastor Henderson.
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Freedom of religion, freedom from religion, and freedom from government interference with religion: why, it’s almost a subversive thought in this day and age…
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And so John Boehner invites the Pope to address joint session Congress Sept 2015. Will leaders of other religions be invited?
Jeb Bush likely to be in the gallery.
There are numerous other sites that would serve and honor our separation of church and state.
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Separation of CHURCH and STATE is most important.
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You mean like this supreme leader*-Ali Khameini??
*From Wiki:
The Supreme Leader of Iran (Persian: ولی فقیه ایران, vali-e faghih-e iran,[1] lit. Guardian Jurist of Iran, or رهبر انقلاب, rahbar-e enghelab,[2] lit. Leader of the Revolution), officially in Iran, the Supreme Leadership Authority (Persian: مقام معظم رهبری) is the head of state and highest ranking political and religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The post was established by the constitution in accordance with the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists.[3] The title “Supreme” Leader (Persian: ولی فقیه, vali-e faghih) is often used as a sign of respect; however, this terminology is not found in the constitution of Iran, which simply referred to the “Leader” (rahbar).
The leader is more powerful than the President of Iran and appoints the heads of many powerful posts in the military, the civil government, and the judiciary
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Anyone who agrees with this pastor should also agree that religious colleges and universities should no longer be allowed to accept Pell Grants or federally-subsidized student loans, and that religious hospitals and nursing homes should no longer be allowed to accept Medicare or Medicaid.
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This is why I gave up principles.
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Similar to the reasons I gave up on principals.
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Pell grants, fine by me. Loans are a little different, though, since they get paid back. The government is subsidizing the interest, so their supporting the bank more than the institution.
As far as hospitals and nursing homes, any that accept government funds should not be allowed to impose their own religious beliefs, at least not on patients not of their religion.
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I disagree. In this country, we have a system of free public education through 12th grade that is provided to everyone. Colleges and universities are different; you don’t have to go, and they don’t have to accept you. Also, they charge tuition. We know that it’s generally good for society and the economy if enough people have a college education, and so there are government grants and subsidies available for people to attend accredited schools. States and communities also subsidize public universities and community colleges, to keep the tuition more affordable for their residents. But we do not have some fixed amount of college “dollars” that go to any 19 year-old who wants to attend any institution that calls itself a school. Nor do we have a system of tuition-free public colleges from which these dollars would be taken. Pell Grants and student loans are not like the school vouchers this pastor is arguing against.
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interesting article over at Salon on America’s Broken Brain Trust….. I drew out three statements of essence that I wanted to share with colleagues friends and family here is one: “a malign impact. They are like Asian carp let loose in the Great Lakes.”
this is the sway I feel about Fordham Institute in Cambridge; it does not represent the finest we have in Massachusetts academe and it is “invasive carp”
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Hey, don’t mess with those carp!
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