There is a wonderful organization in Texas called Pastors for Texas Children, led by the indefatigable Pastor Charles Foster Johnson of Fort Worth.
Their members span the state, and they have worked with public schools and parents to oppose vouchers, which would destroy many communities and defund their community’s public schools.
Pastor Johnson recently sent out this letter:
Pastors for Texas Children is a three-year-old organization that mobilizes the faith community for public education assistance and advocacy. Our website is http://www.pastorsfortexaschildren.com
Our goal is to connect every single local congregation to every single public school in wrap-around care and school improvement assistance – especially high-need schools in poor neighborhoods. We do this always under the authority of the local superintendent and principal – and always scrupulously adhering to the principles of religious liberty and church/state separation.
We believe fully in the First Amendment prohibition against any religious instruction in our public schools. But we also believe that faith communities should be 100% behind public education as a core institution of democratic society and the common good.
In addition to this local school assistance, we also advocate for good and just public education policy in state government. We favor full funding for our schools, particularly universal Pre-K instruction, and we oppose any privatization of our public schools, especially vouchers. We have become a significant voice in preventing a voucher bill from passing in Texas.
We presently have 2000 partners in our organization representing 1000 congregations, and are rapidly expanding. Our movement has spread to Oklahoma where Pastors for Oklahoma Kids has just been established. We are holding conversations with ministers in several other states, and hope to spread our mission nationwide.
If you are interested in helping us do this– or connecting us to your minister and or congregation– please do not hesitate to call the Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, executive director, at 210-378-1066 or email him at charlie@charlesfosterjohnson.com
We at the Network for Public Education have offered our full assistance to Pastor Johnson and his group. Our Texas members have generated hundreds of letters to their legislators. We are delighted to see that this movement to strengthen separation of church and state has spread to Oklahoma. We hope that faith leaders in communities across the nation reach out of Pastor Johnson and learn how to create an effective organization in their own state. A group like this could do a world of good in the South and the Midwest, especially in communities where the public school is the hub of the community and where competition will defund the public schools.
I can’t think of anything more effective than having faith leaders insisting on separation of church and state. Thoughtful faith leaders know that they should retain their autonomy and that federal and state money will in time erode their religious freedom. If churches need federal or state money to survive, they don’t have a strong base of support among their members, and they will pay a steep price for public aid.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé.
Interesting I guess the separation of Church and State only counts when it goes against you, correct?
Rudy,
The Pastors for Texas Children are fighting FOR separation of church and state.
I was reminded of a story I saw on The Dave Mathews Band and Charlottesville, Virginia, the home base of the band. It is a diverse community. The band contributes to the well being of the community by funding various outreach to the community including offering tutoring for needy students, a community center, access to affordable health services, a food co-op. They work with churches in the community that administer the programs. When music was cut from the public school budget, the band and churches stepped in to help. This is ethical socialism where they work to supplement services in the community, not destroy public education. There is no profit motive here; they want to lessen the inequalities of being poor and do good.
If Hillary was in power, then churches would have a reason to fear. She wanted to attack and dismantle the social-institution that has done much good in our society.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425099/hillary-clintons-speech-shows-vulnerability-religious-liberty-andrew-t-walker
The pastor says Q
We believe fully in the First Amendment prohibition against any religious instruction in our public schools. END Q
Here is the text of the First Amendment:
” Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ”
Is this man reading the same Constitution that I am?
The Supreme Court said in Abingdon v. Schempp (1963)
[I]t might well be said that one’s education is not complete
without a study of comparative religion or the history
of religion and its relationship to the advancement
of civilization. It certainly may be said that the Bible
is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities.
Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of
the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as
part of a secular program of education, may not be effected
consistently with the First Amendment.
(This case was decided unanimously)
Charles, no one has written that the study of the Bible should be banned. Comparative religious studies occur with frequency.
The issue is whether taxpayers should be expected to directly subsidize tuition at religious schools. Every vote taken to the public says no. Every opinion poll says no. Most people don’t want to subsidize religious schools.
I would like to see more study of comparative religions. Especially Islam! All Americans should have a basic understanding of the religion of 20% of this world. I would like to see how this pastor would react to the teaching of Islam in Texas schools.
I am going to teach a class at my church in the basics of Islam. Our church is interested in inter-faith dialog. Recently, some of our members attended an open house, at the local Mosque.
“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools” -Martin Luther King.
Q The issue is whether taxpayers should be expected to directly subsidize tuition at religious schools END Q
Is this really the issue? Why is it the issue? Would not a school choice/voucher plan, be equally applicable at private secular schools, and home schooling?
Would there be equal objection, if the choice/voucher program were restricted to secular and home-schooling, and religious schools were prohibited from redeeming the vouchers?
Charles,
That is the formula used in Chile and Sweden. It increased all kinds of segregation and decreased test scores. A disaster!
Charles
The case you refereed to was a decision that knocked down a Pennsylvania law allowing Prayer in school hot as you would have us believe the value of secular study of religion. Schempp the plantif
sued the district for forcing his child to endure being made to feel uncomfortable having to endure prayer in School .
“Citing Justice Hugo Black in Torcaso v. Watkins, Justice Clark added, “We repeat and again reaffirm that neither a State nor the Federal Government can constitutionally force a person ‘to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.'” Neither can constitutionally pass laws or impose requirements which aid all religions as against non-believers, and neither can aid those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs.” Such prohibited behavior was self-evident in the Pennsylvania law requiring Bible reading (and allowing recitation of the Lord’s Prayer) in its public schools. The Court recognized the value of such ideal neutrality from lessons of history when government and religion were either fully fused or cooperative with one another and religious liberty was nonexistent or seriously curtailed.”
Go read Madison or Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State”
James Madison
“The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.”
“Every new & successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
..With such a public opinion, it may be expected that a University, with the feature peculiar to ours, will succeed here if any where. Some of the clergy did not fail to arraign the peculiarity; but it is not improbable that they had an eye to the chance of introducing their own creed into the professor’s chair. A late resolution for establishing an Episcopal school within the College of William and Mary, though in a very guarded manner, drew immediate animadversions from the press, which, if they have not put an end to the project, are a proof of what would follow such an experiment in the University of the State, endowed and supported, as this will be altogether by the public authority and at the common expense
Translation not with my tax dollar.
Thanks for this information, Diane. And also thanks for your comments.
Charles. You are forgetting this case: VOUCHERS
In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), the Supreme Court upheld Ohio’s pilot voucher program holding it did not violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”
In a 5-4 opinion, the Court reasoned that the voucher program funneled public money to individual people for their children’s education in a manner that is entirely consitutional. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote, “The Ohio program is entirely neutral with respect to religion. Their options for choice were among public and private, secular and religious schools. Tuition aid was distributed to parents according to financial need. Schools received the money when parents enrolled their children. The vouchers provided aid to individual recipients. The only role of government was disbursing the benefits to a broad class of individuals, with low-income families in a failed school district receiving greater assistance and admission priority. (96 % of vouchers went to religious schools). https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-1751.ZS.html
You may have heard of Citizens United. The Director, Barry Lynn is an ordained minister. This organization is working along the same lines as the Texas pastors, supporting public schools against efforts to have taxpayers pay for religious instruction. Citizens United brought forward to the Supreme Court the Hobby Lobby case…and lost it. But they continue to have lawyers working to keep church and state separated.
A new phrase is getting some traction among those who want to stop vouchers tha would go to religious schools. They are gearing up campaigns to resist a “religious tax” –one that is hidden from view by the fuss over vouchers and choice. Among those joining this cause are lawyers for homeschoolers who know that vouchers cannot be distributed with a roster of eligible perssons, and that means opening the door for more government tracking of their work, whether it complies wirh state standards and the whole works. They want to escape from that.
Then there is this for Catholic schools to consider.
Research from the National Bureau of Economic Research focused on the effects of vouchers on Catholic schools in Milwaukee. The study found that that vouchers diminish other religious activities in those churches. “In our data, the typical parish accepting vouchers gets more revenue from government-funded vouchers (nearly a million dollars annually) than from donations from parishioners. A parish will gain financial stability but the school vouchers will driving down their revenue for, and spending on, other religious activities. http://nber.org/papers/w23159
This study also shows that other religious schools stand to make a lot by a voucher system, and without trying to offer anyhting except an “educational program.”
State policies on distributing vouchers are likely to be forced by DeVos. You get no vouchers without state laws that permit their use for any school or educational program.
I know this case well. (I made an agreement, not to mention it). I wish more people, on both sides of the issue, were familiar with the Cleveland case.
I believe that a Supreme Court with Trump appointees, will not move to reverse the decision.
I agree, that the several states, will each have to consider a voucher/school choice program, one by one. Some states will probably move forward and enact programs, some will not.
I do not see the new SecEd “forcing” this on any state. The states will be free to enact, as each state determines.
Citizens United:
Officers and Board of Directors
David N. Bossie, President and Chairman of the Board
Burtonsville, Maryland
Michael Boos, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Manassas, Virginia
Brian Berry, Director
Media Consultant
Austin, Texas
Ron Robinson, Director
President, Young America’s Foundation
Reston, Virginia
John Bliss, Director
Attorney
Denver, Colorado
From their website.
Barry Lynn:
Barry W. Lynn (born 1948) has been the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State since 1992. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a prominent leader of the religious left in the United States. He is known to be a strong advocate of separation of church and state.
(from google)
I believe that Mr. Lynn, will work to oppose any expansion of a school choice program.
I live in Texas and there are several Title 1 schools in my community that have a church partner through this organization. They provide school supplies, volunteers for Book Fairs, food for teacher appreciation events, the list goes on and on. They are going out and actually being the church in the community and leveling the playing field as Title 1 campuses don’t typically have the army of volunteers that more affluent campuses have. I am so grateful that the Texas Pastors see Public Ed as a vital part of our community.
I wish more NGO’s would partner with public schools. The Masonic Angel Fund, provides services to children (including food and refurbished computers) to children in public schools. see http://masonicangelfund.org/
Here’s one for Duane Swacker who coined the terms “DeVosify” and “DeVosity”
“Hedging your Bets”
DeVosify to hedge your Bets
DeVosify investment debts
DeVosity is really best
With charter’n voucher in your nest
LIke!
(and thanks for the acknowledgement-been on, at, in the river again this week-gimme a child, gimme a stream to explore and that child will learn a lot)