Charles Foster Johnson, executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, delivered a powerful lecture at Baylor University on the importance of public schooling.
PTC has been an important advocate on behalf of public schools in several states. It has led the successful effort to block voucher legislation in Texas by forging a coalition of urban Democrats and rural Republicans.
An account of the lecture said:
Public schools in the United States offer the “meeting place for widening diversity” where students learn to live with others who hold different views, a Baptist preacher and advocate for public education told a Baylor University gathering.
Charles Foster Johnson, executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, addressed “Religious Liberty, the Public School and the Soul of America” at the G. Hugh and Beverly C. Wamble Symposium, presented by Baylor’s J.M. Dawson Institute for Church-State Studies.
“I contend that public schools are the proving ground for religious liberty and church-state separation,” Johnson asserted.
In public school classrooms, students learn that their own religious beliefs are not to be given preference over the beliefs of their classmates, nor are their classmates beliefs to be preferred above their own, he said.
In an increasingly pluralistic society, understanding and honoring religious liberty may be more important than ever, he stressed.
“Our neighbor of another faith is right next to us now. … We share this absurdly small space called planet Earth, and we’ve got to learn to love each other,” said Johnson, former pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio and Second Baptist Church in Lubbock. “One of the ways we do that is to accord every human being the freedom to follow God by the mandate of conscience.”
He decried any attempt to coerce compliance to any religion or compel religious expression.
“All faith in God is voluntary. If it is not voluntary, it is not faith,” he said.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The great equalizer in American life is the neighborhood public school,” Public schools always aspire to be the great equalizer, particularly in diverse integrated schools. Public schools are a key element in the public trust. Corporate education will always put the bottom line ahead of the needs of students.
The issue of religion is a private decision. Students should not shuttled into religious schools because the public schools are underfunded. Religion should remain a personal choice that has nothing to do with the government or its funding.
LikeLike
AMEN!
LikeLike
The US Department of Education web site:
“Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a new initiative to promote the creation and expansion of high-quality public charter schools in Opportunity Zones across the United States.
Currently, more than 70% of Opportunity Zones do not have a public charter school option available to students. One-fifth of Opportunity Zone residents lack a high school diploma. By creating and expanding high-quality public charter schools in Opportunity Zones, more families living in economically distressed communities will have access to additional education options that might better meet their child’s needs”
The other new initiative is for more funding for private schools.
Oh, well. Maybe public school kids will get another round of funding going to school security. Either that or drug addiction prevention.
I think the ed reform funding priorities say a lot about how they see public school students and public schools. Notice how none of their public school programs are ever positive investments? It’s always some grim new mandate.
LikeLike
If anyone in DC could be bothered to actually enter a public school they might find that contrary to what they’re told at the weekly mandatory attendance ed reform conventions, our kids do not actually spend all day every day undergoing drug addiction treatment and dodging school shooters.
Maybe we could hire someone who actually attended one or worked in one?
This nightmare scenario they promote is 1. not accurate and 2. not fair to public school students.
LikeLike
Very important, as the State Department’s home page this morning would indicate we are now a Christian nation.
https://www.state.gov
Screen Shot 2019-10-14 at 3.04.59 PM
LikeLike
Sorry; I can’t figure out how to paste a screen shot.
LikeLike
From Twitter:
LikeLike
Pompeo is an evangelical Presbyterian. William Barr is a Catholic who believes religion should be introduced at every opportunity. They and Leonard Leo and Paul Weyrich (his training lives on in the religious right) are a clear and present danger to democracy.
Authoritarianism and fewer rights for women bind the activities of evangelical and Catholic religious zealots and church leaders.
Gates-funded Bellwether wrote this year that ed reformers should reach out to churches to advance their goals in the south.
LikeLike
Here is the big one.
The Koch-funded Cause of Action Institute has filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court arguing for a repeal of the Blaine Amendment in Montana. The Cause of Action Institute is notorious for filing lawsuits against regulations that inhibit “free market” activities.
The aim of this AMICI CURIAE brief on behalf of Americans for Prosperity and Yes. Every Kid is this: Secure tax- supported vouchers for religious education. The brief was filed September 18, 2019. It is scheduled for argument before the US Supreme Court Court this year https://ballotpedia.org/Espinoza_v._Montana_Department_of_Revenue
Overview:
“The Montana Constitution includes a “Blaine Amendment” that prohibits state “appropriation or payment” to sectarian schools. The Montana Supreme Court’s recent ruling, striking down a facially-neutral school-choice program, demonstrates that Blaine Amendments are fundamentally incompatible with the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
“Although the Montana school-choice program did not directly fund sectarian schools, and thus might have escaped constitutional review, the Montana Supreme Court construed its amendment to require excision of any possibility that religion may receive a public benefit.”
In this lawsuit, the question before the US Supreme Court is:
“Does it violate the Religion Clauses or Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution to invalidate a generally available and religiously neutral student-aid program simply because the program affords students the choice of attending religious schools?”
In addition to Americans for Prosperity and yes. every kid., this case is supported by many others:
Agudath Israel of America; Alliance for Choice in Education; American Center for Law and Justice ; Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization et al.; Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, et al. ; Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence; Center for Education Reform, et al.; Christian Legal Society, et al. ; EdChoice, et al. ; Forge Youth Mentoring.; Foundation for Moral Law.; Georgia Goal Scholarship Program, Inc. ; Independence Institute ; Jerry and Kathy Armstrong, et al. ; Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty; Justice and Freedom Fund et al. ; Liberty Justice Center and American Federation for Children, et al.; Mackinac Center for Public Policy; Montana Catholic School Parents, et al. ; Montana Family Foundation ; Opportunity Scholarship Fund.; Pioneer Institute, Inc.; Rusty Bowers, Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, et al..; Senators Steve Daines, et al. ; States of Oklahoma, et al. ; The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty ; The Cato Institute; The Honorable Scott Walker; and The Rutherford Institute.
Two other briefs amicus curiae should be noted.
One was filed by 131 Current and Former State Legislators (The names of these supporters are listed on the last page of the document. They represent 28 different states. The states with the most supporters are Colorado (17), South Dakota(10), South Carolina (9), New Mexico (7), Kansas (6), followed by Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Texas (5 each state).
Click to access 20190918194448873_18-1195%20Amicus%20Br%20of%20131%20legislators.pdf
Last, but not least, is the brief amicus curiae of the United States, filed by lawyers in the US Department of Justice on behalf of public funding of religious education.
This is to say that Trump Department of Justice is clearly in favor of allowing public funds to be used for religious education. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-1195/116295/20190918175731796_18-1195tsacUnitedStates.pdf filed.
I am not taking bets on the outcome of this case, but repeal of the Blaine amendments (adoted in 39 states) is clearly the aim. Moreover, I doubt if any of the Democratic candidates running for office are prepared to argue against school choice and voucher-like schemes that permit the use of public funds for religious education.
LikeLike
Trump’s two addition to the Supreme Court are determined to erase the Blaine Amendments and clear the way for public funding of religious schools. Elections have consequences.
LikeLike
“the Montana Supreme Court construed its amendment to require excision of any possibility that religion may receive a public benefit.”
What a load of overstated baloney. All the Montana Supreme Court decided was that tax credits for donations to “tuition scholarships”—even though monies are paid to families rather than religious schools—are nonetheless in violation of Montana’s laws on separation of church and state.
Religion gets every available public benefit. Wouldn’t you think it was enough already that churches pay no fed, state, local income or RE taxes? Between that and paid staff time – plus maybe some member volunteer time & a modest fee, churches have always been able to scrape up enough for Sunday school &/or CCD, even twice-/ thrice-weekly after-school religious classes. If they insist on religifying the daily ed of every kid in town, they can by god fund-raise private deep-pockets to do so. And of course that’s not what’s going on in Montana. The rural public hasn’t enough interest in this program to even get it off the ground. But the ed-reform vultures can use it to shoe-horn a SCOTUS decision that will benefit them elsewhere.
LikeLike
Per wiki, the Blaine Amendment was a failed constitutional amendment that passed overwhelmingly in the House & failed Senate by only 4 votes, but was nevertheless adopted by 38 states. “[It] emerged from a growing consensus among 19th-century American Protestants that public education must be free from sectarian or denominational control, while it also reflected nativist tendencies hostile to immigrants.”
Despite its mixed motivation, the main piece—“public education must be free from sectarian or denominational control”—would seem uncontroversial to anyone w/a brain. In fact one wonders why any amendment is needed in view of the 1st Amendment’s “No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” A mixed agenda of privatizers, evangelists, segregationalists, & old churches whose memberships are dying on the vine are twisting the 1st amendment to claim that not supporting religious school tuitions w/public taxes is denying “the free exercise thereof.”
Only in America. Everything is backwards.
LikeLike
The Protestants wanted the Blaine amendment to hobble Catholic education. They thought that they had firm ideological control of public education. When socialism became the religion of public education, some changed their minds. The problem now is that Islamic schools will get funding along with Protestant and Catholic schools. So, voters are faced with a dilemma; support a communist public school system, or a voucher system that will include Muslim institutions. Both are clearly unAmerican. The drift seems to be toward hoping Muslims can become civilized and supporting choice over the known hostility of Marxist socialism to the American capitalist experiment.
LikeLike
With a post like that, you have shown that you do not know what it is to be an American. Take your disgusting racism and leave.
LikeLike
Oh, Harlan, go back under your hill.
LikeLike
Fox attracts an audience that wants to be told how to think. Harlan’s brain, preferring ditto head conditioning, rejects the thinking process.
LikeLike
Harlan’s “capitalist experiment” i.e. a rigged system of monopolies, oligopolies and government control by corporations – results in a prediction (Federal Reserve data) showing 100% of American wealth will be owned by the richest 1% within 33 years.
LikeLike
This comment reflects rampant ignorance public school culture. Teachers– whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, secularist, atheist, etc.– are motivated by spiritual and moral concern for their children. They are frontline brokers of goodness. They know that any formal or official pronouncement of a specific religious doctrine violates that moral concern. We find that they brilliantly understand the principle of religious liberty and the American doctrine of church/state separation, and apply it ingeniously in our neighborhood and community public schools.
LikeLike
Nearly two years ago, the Pioneer Institute produced this documentary on the Blaine Amendment, in the name of school choice.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/new-documentary-highlights-impact-bigoted-blaine-amendments/
The Pioneers get their money from the Kochs and the Waltons, so not much of a surprise there.
LikeLike
I like the idea of phasing out the voucher program and giving raises to teachers. [Virtual schools should be totally eliminated.] He wants to not allow unused public schools to be sold to charters for $1.00. School funding based monthly would allow more money for public schools. Unfortunately, Indiana is a red state. If I wasn’t retired, I wouldn’t live here. Cheap helps when one is a retired teacher.
…………….
Increased teacher pay tops gubernatorial candidate’s plans to shake-up Indiana education policy
INDIANAPOLIS — Gubernatorial candidate Josh Owens wants to ensure a $50,000 minimum salary for all public school teachers, create a $2 billion public education endowment and put an end to Indiana’s voucher program.
He says he can do it all without displacing students or increasing taxes.
The proposals come as a part of the Democratic candidate’s Indiana education plan, first outlined last week on Owens’ website.
“It is not enough to put more money into our public education system,” Owens said in a campaign news release. “We must also be intentional about where the money is going.”
Owens, CEO of online retail strategy company SupplyKick, announced his candidacy for governor last month. The Indianapolis tech executive joins Democrats state Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, and former state health commissioner Dr. Woody Myers, who will look to unseat Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2020.
In phasing out Indiana’s voucher program, which directs public funds toward student scholarships for private school attendance, Owens’ plan estimates a $160 million estimated return of investment in public education.
Students already enrolled in the state’s voucher program and their siblings would be allowed to continue receiving voucher support through the candidate’s proposed multi-year phase out period…
The candidate is also in favor of providing a dollar-for-dollar tax credit to offset textbook fees for public school students, would look to repeal the state law allowing the lease or sale of public school property to charter schools for $1 and supports school funding based on monthly student enrollment data rather than the state’s current system funding based on biannual enrollment counts.
The state’s reserve balance currently sits at more than $2 billion — money many educators argued last spring should have been directed toward increased teacher salary.
On salary, Owens proposes to create a minimum $50,000 compensation package for public school teachers with required cost of living increases directed to all teachers based on the prior year’s inflation rate.
Though, a complete end to the Indiana Choice Scholarship program, supported by some legislators and private school educators, is unlikely to gain the approval of the state’s Republican-controlled legislature. More than 36,000 Hoosier students in 329 participating schools were enrolled in the state’s voucher program last year, according to Indiana Department of Education data.
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/increased-teacher-pay-tops-gubernatorial-candidate-s-plans-to-shake/article_920a6fdf-8fe9-59d3-935c-7e192c5c00dc.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
LikeLike
Freedom to Believe
Have faith, my son
That I’m the One
And follow Biff
Off yonder cliff
LikeLike
Have faith, that I
Can really fly
And you, as well —
Or go to Hell
LikeLike