Rev. Clark Frailey, a leader of Pastors for Oklahoma Kids, writes here eloquently about the need for the people of Oklahoma to stand strongly for public schools and the children they serve.
Our public schools deserve the choice not to be a battleground for politicians.
Oklahoma children in public schools deserve the choice not to be marketed and sold as investments in profiteering schemes.
Our parents deserve the choice not to have their kids subjected to high-stakes testing at the whim of politicians.
Our dedicated teachers deserve the choice to be paid like the professionals they are, who invest countless hours in shaping the very future of the state we call home. You cannot put kids first if you put teachers last.
And we, the faithful taxpayers, deserve a choice. We should have a say that the tax money that generation after generation has invested in Oklahoma’s educational assets and infrastructure not be trampled and defunded. Careless initiatives that transfer funds we all collectively place into the public trust for the maintenance and health of our public schools is at stake.
Read it all and thanks to the pastors of Oklahoma!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This war against public education and the public sector includes a war between moderate/liberal Christians and conservative, fundamentalist extremists that call themselves Christians.
And “The Atlantic” published a piece on that topic back in March 2016.
“Conservative Christians share striking similarities with Taliban terrorists. Or at least, that’s the argument laid out by Kimberly Blaker in her 2003 book, The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America. Conflating leaders like James Dobson of Focus on the Family with Islamic fundamentalists, Blaker argued that America’s traditionalist Christians also seek to indoctrinate youth with oppressive views of women, minorities, and LGBT persons through mind-control tactics and intimidation.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/are-conservative-christians-religious-extremists/473187/
The Pew Research Center also reported on U.S. religious groups and their political leanings. (an interesting study)
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/23/u-s-religious-groups-and-their-political-leanings/
LikeLike
Many thanks go to the Texas pastors that worked with Oklahoma pastors to urge them oppose privatization. My hope is that all pastors that understand the value of the public asset of public education will pay it forward and spread the word to other communicants in other red states that are intent of blowing up their public schools. They should reject libertarian disruption as it serves no public purpose. As the pastors have said before, “Real conservatives conserve, they do not destroy public institutions.”
LikeLike
While I am glad that the pastors are speaking out against privatization I can’t allow blatant falsehoods to go unchallenged:
“The free public education, while guaranteed by our state constitution, is not actually granted by a government, but is a provision of God. Faith convicts us that all children deserve the chance at a great education.”
Public education is not only guaranteed by the state but is granted by each state constitution, i.e., the government’s authorizing document. It is not “a provision of god”. It is very much a man-made institution and public good. This god (and as always, which one?) of which the pastor speaks has nothing to do with public education. And “faith” has nothing to do with ensuring “all children deserve the chance at a great education.” Proper funding by the state, utilized wisely, will get the get children the chance at a decent and sufficient education, not faith for faith has never bought or supplied anything.
LikeLike