At her Congressional hearing, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was asked directly if she would deny federal funding to the Lighthouse Christian zacademy in Bloomington, Indiana, which explicitly bans the enrollment ipof students who are homosexual or who live in a family where homosexual activity is practiced.
“Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts, cited Lighthouse Christian Academy’s enrollment brochure, which states that the private school can refuse admission or discontinue enrollment of a student living in a home environment that includes “homosexual or bisexual activity” or “practicing alternate gender identity.”
“The eight-page brochure, titled “Admissions Information and Policies 2017-2018,” can be found on Lighthouse Christian Academy’s website with other admission materials.
“Under a section titled, Biblical Lifestyle, its lists 10 behaviors “prohibited in the Bible,” including “heterosexual activity outside of one man-one-woman marriage;” “homosexual or bisexual activity or any form of sexual immorality;” and “practicing alternate gender identity or any other identity or behavior that violates God’s ordained distinctions between the two sexes, male and female.” Specific Bible verses are cited after each of the 10 behaviors.
“In situations in which the home life violates these standards, LCA reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student,” the brochure reads.”
The school currently receives more than $665,000 in state funding under the Indiana voucher program.
DeVos responded.
“The bottom line is we believe that parents are the best equipped to make choices for their children’s schooling and education decisions,” DeVos said, when given a chance to respond to the question uninterrupted. “Too many children today are trapped in schools that don’t work for them. We have to do something different than continuing a top down, one-size-fits all approach. States and local communities are best equipped to make these decisions and framework on behalf of their students.”
The follow-up question should have been whether she would approve funding to a school that enroll students who are of the same religion. The next question should have been whether federal funds could be disbursed to a school that does not admit students who are black.
Are we seeing the abandonment of the federal role as a guarantor of equal rights? Will the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights be handed over to Jeff Sessions? Or will it be led by someone who defends choice over civil rights?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Byotch never answers the questions asked of her. Calling her a POS is insulting to Sh*t.
Indiana is a mess and DeVos isn’t helping. How horrible to allow such discrimination..not just allow but encourage it with tax dollars.
This is Pence’s Indiana. How much worse can the whole country get? Hope we don’t have to find out.
Maybe some of the people who are calling for the impeachment of Pres. Trump, would think twice, when they consider his potential successor.
So what policy would Pence pursue that Trump is nit already trying to achieve. First Trump than Pence they are both guilty of Treason . His story is falling apart rapidly.
I have thought about the possibility of a Pence presidency, too, Charles. I can’t say I find the idea of much comfort although Pence would probably govern under the Constitution as much as I might disagree with his interpretation. Trump is a loose cannon; he has no understanding of how to govern and has no desire to do anything but to enrich himself, his family and his “friends.” He thought the election was just a popularity contest. The fact that anyone actually expected him to govern was a surprise to him. Our allies may not particularly like Pence, but they would be able to predict him.
Does Lighthouse also refuse to admit students wearing mixed fabrics? Or whose family members wear mixed fabrics? What about those who eat shellfish? Is weekly bull sacrifice a requirement? And do they stone disobedient children?
I am daily given evidence that Trump and DeVos and other Republicans including members of Congress are segregationists. They are shaping policies that place religious views, customer choice, and the principle that I’ve-got-mine, you-get-yours as if true-blue and perfect. They are surrounding all of that with the faux patriotism of making “America Great Again.”
Discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, wealth, identity and so on is not just part of the “American faith” in individual initiative and entrepreneurship. It is the official position of the Republican party being formalized in policies, programs, budgets and media spin.
Consider the remarks of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson “”I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind.” That view seems to justify cuts in social services, as if being homeless and hungry and incapacitated by not having medical care are caused by your mindset.
\ http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/politics/ben-carson-poverty-state-of-mind/
It’s not just the Republicans.
What you described is the policy of the pro-charter Democrats as well.
After all, when charters fail terribly in their ability to educate at-risk kids and instead suspend them over and over again — or flunk them over and over again — until they leave, it is always the child’s fault. The inability of a 5 year old to learn as fast as a charter demands is always the fault of the child’s “mindset” and never the fault of a politically connected charter school that excels in recognizing the unworthy children and showing them the door.
It is not a coincidence they are the same people fighting for the right to suspend as many kindergartens as they want to. It’s not a coincidence that they are the same people who shout publicly that they have so many unworthy and violent 5 year olds that suspending them is absolutely their only recourse.
They call themselves Democrats but they are the favorites of the right wing Republicans. And no Democrat dares to call them out on their lies.
This country is a mess. I am embarrassed to be an American citizen.
23 celebrities said they would leave if Trump were elected. see
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/catherinedunn/2016/09/08/these-10-celebrities-say-theyll-leave-the-country-if-trump-is-elected-n2215391
None have.
Your point being….?
Never trust a celebrity. When Pres. Trump was elected, a man in Alabama set up a fund-raising drive to raise money to purchase bus tickets for the 23 celebrities, one-way to Mexico. He raised over $40,000, but none of the 23 took him up on the offer!
What does your comment have to do with Betsy DeVos or discriminatory schools?
Charles,
Are you suggesting those celebrities were as big as liars as Trump himself?
Would you have more admiration for them if they had simply lied and used their celebrity to tell the world that they had Trump’s German birth certificate and had absolute proof (that they promised to reveal) that Trump was lying about being born in America?
Would you have more admiration for those celebrities if they had simply lied and claimed that Donald Trump’s father was part of the conspiracy to assassinate JFK?
Would you have had more admiration for those celebrities if they had given classified information to Russian diplomats and dictators?
Let’s agree to disagree on what you “admire” in a man and what you believe is worthy of criticism. Because what you choose to admire and what you choose to criticize speaks volumes about your own values and the value of honesty and trustworthiness is obviously something you think is unnecessary for a leader to have. Most Americans disagree.
No one person has a monopoly on mendacity. Presidents lie (I remember Richard Nixon), celebrities lie. So what? I believe that our political servants, including the President, should have integrity, and moral fiber. Our current president, is sorely lacking in these qualities.
And if Trump continues to get free reign to work his “magic” on this country, perhaps as many right thinking people will hope to leave this country as tried to leave Nazi Germany.
Why you would spend your time tracking celebrities who said they would leave if Trump won as if they are some grave danger to our country while the Republicans allow him to lie with impunity is beyond my understanding.
You do know that an equal number of right-wing celebrities always threatens to leave the country every time a Democrat is elected, right? Still waiting for Ted Nugent to GTFO.
We, as a society, should be supporting strong public education. DeVos is the poster girl for discrimination. It is wrong on so many levels to permit public tax dollars to go to schools that can discriminate, or those that have no intention of trying to provide an equitable education to all students.
Any family that is denied admissions should file an OCR complaint. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html
Where is the ACLU on this? Why haven’t they released a statement?
Or the NAACP (at one point the Congresswoman asked if private schools that accept vouchers can deny entrance to African-Americans, and Devos implicitly responded “Yes.”)?
Or any other groups? People for the American Way?
Diane Here’s a view from “the other side” of the DeVos hearing. Of course, it’s NOT partisan (joke alert). From the National Catholic Register:
ALL QUOTED BELOW
BLOGS | MAY. 25, 2017
DeVos Upsets the NYTimes by Refusing to Punish ‘Schools That Discriminate’
“Too many children today are trapped in schools that don’t work for them. We have to do something different.”
Joan Desmond
“Betsy DeVos Refuses to Rule Out Giving Funds to Schools That Discriminate.”
The May 24 New York Times headline above marked an escalation in the partisan battle against school choice initiatives that have challenged the dominance of traditional public schools and teachers unions.
The shrill, confusing headline itself will surely prompt thoughtful readers to ask: “Schools that discriminate” against whom? But the Times story never delves into the substance or accuracy of the partisan allegations in its headline.
The Trump administration has proposed big cuts in federal education programs deemed by the White House to be ineffective or too expensive, though some of those dollars will be shifted to states and local school districts. The budget blueprint also includes $250 million for optional government-funded school voucher programs across the U.S.
So what about those “schools that discriminate”?
During a House appropriations subcommittee hearing, Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, took fire from several House Democrats, who rolled out a new line of attack.
“Representative Katherine M. Clark, Democrat of Massachusetts, asked how Ms. DeVos would respond to a state that gave federal funding to a school that denied admission to students from lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender families,” the Times reported.
Clark’s broadside marked the rollout of fresh partisan talking points designed to smear voucher programs and private religious schools, which have a constitutionally-protected right to abide by biblical teaching on marriage and sexual ethics.
END QUOTED MATERIAL. MORE at
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/joan-desmond/betsy-devos-may-give-funds-to-schools-that-discriminate-and-the-nytimes-isn
This issue aside, I still find it crazy that people can get on platforms and talk about private schools being superior when any time of superiority comes solely from the fact that they can pick their students and get rid of those who cannot or will not meet their academic and/or behavioral expectations.
Teacher111 There was so much twisted in this article I just didn’t know where to start; but yes, and the ones who can pay for a Catholic education are already in a more student-friendly group, by definition.
And, nowadays, many religious schools have uncertified and/or a revolving door of novice teachers who get a year’s worth of teaching on their resumes then run to the public schools with their standard licenses. Back in the era of nuns, there was no technology, and the “3 Rs” were taught, and the entire student body was, indeed, Catholic. I don’t know how many nuns had college degrees in education, but they were teaching religion and just the basics. Many Catholic schools are enrolling voucher students of different faiths, just to get the money to stay open – they have long-ago abandoned their mission of bringing up God’s children in the Catholic faith. Meanwhile, there are gold faucets at the Vatican, and arch dioceses all over the nation are closing schools due to lack of funding, and drying up voucher funding.
I cannot tell you how many such schools have closed where I reside, and been rented out by charters, even if temporarily housing said charters.
DeVos responded –
“The bottom line is we believe that parents are the best equipped to make choices for their children’s schooling and education decisions,”
and
“States and local communities are best equipped to make these decisions and framework on behalf of their students.”
Make your mind up, woman!
It made news when DeVos bashed public schools when she went before Congress, but she does this everywhere she goes:
http://www.courant.com/education/hc-east-hartford-devos-0526-20170525-story.html
The sum total of her efforts so far has consisted of leading a political campaign for vouchers run out of the US Department of Education.
Apparently she can’t find a single example of a successful public school student in the whole country. Not one.
Has anyone in DC, either in the Trump Administration or in Congress, mentioned a single positive thing they plan to offer public schools this year?
They had their umpteenth debate on charters and vouchers last week.
Is there a time they’ll be discussing something pertinent or relevant to public schools, or were 90% of schools omitted from the agenda again?
Well, the policies at Lighthouse Christian academy in Bloomington, Indiana are likely due to the fact that christians like to have their priests, ministers, deacons, etc., keep their homosexuality behind closed doors. Snark.
“The bottom line is we believe that parents are the best equipped to make choices for their children’s schooling and education decisions,”