The charter industry lobbied to make sure that privately-managed charter schools would be eligible to apply for and receive federal coronavirus relief funds that were intended to save small businesses. An unknown number of charter schools have indeed received large federal monies from the stimulus money, despite the fact that no charter school has suffered any loss of funding due to the pandemic.
The charter industry likes to say that charter schools are public schools, and they even call themselves “public charter schools,” which is an oxymoron. Real public schools were not allowed to tap into the coronavirus relief funds for small businesses. But charter schools were eligible, which proves the point that such schools are not public schools. They are operated by private boards under contract.
More importantly, they had no need for the money. Many thousands of private businesses do have a genuine need. At least 100,000 small businesses have closed forever.
The coronavirus pandemic is emerging as an existential threat to the nation’s small businesses — despite Congress approving a historic $700 billion to support them — with the potential to further diminish the place of small companies in the American economy.
The White House and Congress have made saving small businesses a linchpin of the financial rescue, even passing a second stimulus for them late last month. But already, economists project that more than 100,000 small businesses have shut permanently since the pandemic escalated in March, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard Business School, Harvard University and the University of Chicago. Their latest data suggests at least 2 percent of small businesses are gone, according to a survey conducted May 9 to 11.
The carnage has been even higher in the restaurant industry, where 3 percent of restaurant operators have gone out of business, according to the National Restaurant Association. T
earful, heartfelt announcements about small-business closures are popping up on websites and Facebook pages around the country. Analysts warn this is only the beginning of the worst wave of small-business bankruptcies and closures since the Great Depression. It’s simply not possible for small businesses to survive with no income coming in for weeks followed by reopening at half capacity, many owners say.
The charters still receive public funding. They are not at risk. But an unknown number have sought and received some of the money that was supposed to save mom-and-pop stores that have had no revenues since mid-March.
Perry Stein of the Washington Post tried to find out how many charter schools in DC had taken the money meant for failing businesses, and the charter industry was evasive.
Maybe they are embarrassed. They should be.
Stein writes:
D.C. charter schools received federal aid intended to keep nonprofits and small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, drawing criticism from public school advocates and others who say the money should be reserved for businesses hit harder by the crisis’s economic toll.
It is unclear exactly how many applied for the money. Officials across the District’s expansive charter sector — 63 operators that educate almost half of the city’s 100,000 public school students — have largely remained quiet about which schools have received help from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
The D.C. Public Charter School Board, the city board that regulates the schools, said it doesn’t know, and the D.C. Council’s Education Committee chair said the same.
FOCUS, a leading D.C. charter advocacy organization, has been the public contact point for schools interested in applying. But its director, Anne Herr, said she also does not know. Oversight of the relief money “belongs to the federal government,” she said.
Contacted by The Washington Post, most charter operators declined to say. But some acknowledged applying — and defended the decision. “These kids are wearing the brunt of everything that goes bad in the city,” said Shawn Hardnett, founder and executive director of Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys in Southeast Washington, which received a $300,000 loan. “Everything we can do to protect the most vulnerable children in the city we are doing.” [
Wealthy private schools in the region have gotten pushback for taking the money. Top universities have, too. Some businesses, including Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, ultimately decided to return the money after public scrutiny.
Charter schools now face similar blowback. That’s because their main revenue source — per-pupil government funding — is so far unaffected by the pandemic. Meanwhile, other companies and organizations across the district have lost nearly all of their revenue, said D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large), who chairs the Education Committee and has questioned whether charter schools should apply.
“I think it’s really an abuse of funds,” said Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “They are not losing their funding stream.”
So, the charters take the money that was supposed to save America’s small businesses, which are in desperate trouble, because…because…they can.
“But its director, Anne Herr, said she also does not know. Oversight of the relief money “belongs to the federal government,” she said.”
Sounds like we are passing the buck about passing around the bucks.
But Roy . . . that makes perfect sense:
. . . If the oversight of the relief money “belongs to the federal government,” and the federal government is owned by corporations and family-run big business (instead of by The People), and if all of the inspectors general are fired, then . . . . CBK
But Roy . . . that makes perfect sense:
. . . If the oversight of the relief money “belongs to the federal government,” and the federal government is owned by corporations and family-run big business (instead of by The People), and if all of the inspectors general are fired, then . . . . CBK
But Roy . . . that makes perfect sense:
. . . If the oversight of the relief money “belongs to the federal government,” and the federal government is owned by corporations and family-run big business (instead of by The People), and if all of the inspectors general are fired, then . . . . CBK
. . . I don’t know how three of the same note showed up . . . can someone take off two of them? Sorry. CBK
But Catherine…that makes perfect sense:
The third time’s the charm.
Charter schools are doing what amounts to double dipping. They get paid by the public schools, and they get “small business” relief. Some private charter schools are laying off teachers during the C-19 crisis. Shouldn’t their teachers be working remotely with students during this time? It is another example of no accountability in private charter schools.
Meanwhile, public schools get no relief check, and they face the slashing of services in the coming school year. Public schools get the worst treatment by being public. Once the public money goes into private hands, charters schools benefit from being both “public” and private. It is a rigged, parasitic system that deliberately depletes the resources of public schools and leaves them with stranded costs that are fixed.
and the parasites are taking over while the host dies
The 74 launched a series “about the pandemic” which is actually an advertisement for Summit charter schools:
“Diane: I’m Diane Tavenner, co-founder of Summit Public Schools. We run 11 schools on the West coast, and our learning platform is used in hundreds of schools around the country. I’m also the mom of a high school senior, who cares about our world and is trying to do his part, but is also pretty sad to be missing the second half of his senior year. I’m getting a lot of calls from friends around the country lately, who are frustrated with the transition to distance learning. And it’s awkward for me to say this, but the reason they’re calling me is that Summit schools are doing really well.
Our kids haven’t been told, “Hey, everything’s moving to pass-fail.” Instead, they’re owning the choice. They get to choose between four personalized pathways of learning for the rest of the year. Do they want to be on an accelerated program where they can work at their own pace and finish distance learning early? Or, if they’re helping take care of siblings, do they need to focus on the most important learning? Something in between? Whatever they choose, they have a platform of learning they can use to guide them, a mentor checking in with them regularly, and teachers who are using familiar materials and resources to support them.”
Then they plug an ed reformer’s book:
“We started to redesign our schools back in 2011 because we believed it was best for our kids, and one of the first things we did was read Disrupting Class, a book co-authored by Michael Horn.”
It’s a “movement” that is supposedly “about” public education but consistently excludes anyone with any connection to an actual public school. It is unimaginable to these people that any public school did a good job with anything, ever.
https://www.the74million.org/article/listen-introducing-the-class-disrupted-podcast-a-weekly-pandemic-education-conversation-hosted-by-author-michael-horn-summit-public-schools-diane-tavenner/
This post is about the charter industry’s efforts to get federal COVID-19 funds. There is now no doubt that the charter schools seeking these funds are businesses. They are not public schools even if they are receiving public funds.
Here is the most recent message from the charter school industry.
https://www.qualitycharters.org/2020/05/updates-on-federal-response-to-covid-19/
The CARES act has a section on Education, with most of the content bearing on higher education, especially student loans. That bill, full text, is an artifact from the people who were eager to please the cosponsors, all Republicans, and priorities for that party. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548/text?q=product+update
Are Catholic schools taking note? Looks like they’ll be figuring out how to bilk more public funds soon:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catholic-schools-closed-coronavirus-pandemic_n_5ec2e0a3c5b684c3d6072475
GregB Did you actually read the article? From what you write about it, I doubt it–the innuendo in your note is uncalled for. Many of the schools are closing. . . . I’ve now lost trust in you.
Below is a part of the note . . . the only thing it said about government funding is what Trump promised religious schools, and we know how THAT goes. Whether the schools want to take government money or are averse to it is another question . . the article does not say.
From the article: “The reasons for the devastation are threefold: Families who have lost jobs are unenrolling, for fear that they won’t be able to afford tuition; schools have had to cancel spring fundraisers that help keep the institutions afloat; and without in-person services, churches’ offertory collections — which typically provide a major source of education funding — have taken a hit.
“Foundations that help Catholic schools are also shifting their spending priorities amid widespread unemployment and financial devastation.
“Like so much of the impact of COVID-19, the effects of these school closures will be stratified by class.
“At All Saints, tuition only covered 52% of the school’s expenses this year, while tuition covers about 80% of a typical Catholic school’s expenses, according to Louis P. DeAngelo, the Wilmington Diocese superintendent of schools. About 50% of students receive financial assistance at All Saints, where the student body has a substantial immigrant population. Tuition is $6,400 a year for first through eighth graders, and $6,100 for students in kindergarten and preschool.” END Quote CBK
GregB And do stop lumping Catholic Schools in with Charter schools and their activities, or with other protestant religious schools. TOTALLY different.
CBK
If Catholic schools seek money from the same public sources that charters do, I see no difference or distinction. The fact that article does not say is not proof that they won’t or have sought it. I have read Diane’s books, I have been following this blog for at least four years, both are replete with examples of Catholic schools who tap into these funds. Sorry if you’re offended CBK, but I have nothing for which to apologize. As I stated in the last post when you took issue with my analogy, you stood up for Catholic schools but wrote absolutely nothing about my equating them with Southern Baptists. It seems you’re fine with the same characterizations of truth about them and outraged when Catholic schools do the same thing. What about Jewish day schools? What about independent schools? What about Muslim schools. I am consistent. Not a penny of public money should go to ANY of them. The Supreme Court has long approved of funding for them when it comes to public safety and transportation. I disagree with it, especially when I go to my local school board meetings and see them approve funding for busing to Catholic schools. But that’s the law. And that’s where it should end.
GregB You say: “The fact that article does not say is not proof that they won’t or have sought it” (public funds)
No, but your innuendo implied it–I have always expected balance in your notes here, but I guess that went away.
Some factions within the church MAY indeed seek funds . . . I don’t know whether they do or will, or not . . . I hope they don’t . . . and I was saddened when I linked into your note, . . . but then found nothing there to indicate it. In fact, why would they close so many schools, as the article says, if they were being funded by the U.S. Taxpayers?
Then you say: “If Catholic schools seek money from the same public sources that charters do, I see no difference or distinction.”
Well, then, I guess that’s a done deal, at least in your head. And if you “see no difference or distinction between charters and Catholic schools,” only on that one issue, you are only openly admitting your own massive ignorance of an essential set of distinctions. I’m sorry for you for that. CBK
Forgot to put the after “say”.
CBK, a simple Google search of “how much federal money goes to catholic schools” refutes your arguments (as does a reading of Diane’s writings). I READ this 2001 article from the Catholic Resource Education Center, I hope you will too. It is headlined “All Schools Are Public Schools” (wonder if this is where DeBos got her talking points). It make the case for vouchers, for letting public monies “follow the student.” If you agree with this sophistry, g-d bless you, but don’t ask me to pay for it or attack me when I cite facts and am unapologetic for my support of PUBLIC education. If you want to support these schools, then pay for it. It’s not my problem.
GregB writes: “CBK, a simple Google search of ‘how much federal money goes to catholic schools’ refutes your arguments.”
I never made an “argument” that needed refuting–it was about your innuendo. And 2001? I’d say that’s excellent cherry-picking on your part. I’ll look into the Catholic Church’s financial situation when I have time. If they ARE moving in that direction, then I would be the sadder for it–but in the future, I won’t depend on your scholarship for securing information. CBK
Forgot to post article:
https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/education/catholic-contributions/all-schools-are-public-schools-funding-all-schools.html
GregB I doubt you read that article either–it gives a good history actually, but is obvious dated; for instance, in the support of vouchers by Black alliances at the time it was written. To Diane . . . it shows where we were at that time with regard to being “poised” to increase vouchers.
But the article also says: “As we have seen, many parents feel it is their duty as parents to take their children out of failing public schools and send them elsewhere, often at great personal expense. But our current financing system will not permit them to use even some of their own tax dollars for the schools they choose.”
Maybe, GregB, you should read articles you publicly cite? And “bilk?”
Really. CBK
The article:
https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/education/catholic-contributions/all-schools-are-public-schools-funding-all-schools.html
CBK: “And do stop lumping Catholic Schools in with Charter schools and their activities, or with other protestant religious schools. TOTALLY different.” I’m w/gregB on this one. (Where is Linda when we need her?)
The decline of Catholic schools, as noted in the article (linked in greg’s 2:32pm post) is a decades-long phenomenon. Reminds me of the article I read in recent NYT mag where a 30-yr chef of a lowkey, longtime-solid hi-qual Village restaurant geared to locals’ sophisticated yet low-income wallets rues steady nbhd gentrification, multiplying rivals, putting such terrific small restaurants on knife’s edge of competition, forcing them into instagram et al app “branding,” finding themselves long before pandemic unable to pay staff appropriately w/o raising prices beyond traditional customers’ means.
In the chef’s & Cathschs of yore’s situation, traditional customers sacrificing to pay a bit more for far-better-than-ave poor-man’s diners/ schools are disappearing, squeezed out by gentrifiers– & in Cathchs’ case, suffering additionally from rapid shrinking of parish membership.
But instead of folding tents, Catholic schs seek a 3rd way. This is not urban Catholic schools circa ’80’s providing a cheap-to-reasonably-priced alternative for diverse, non-sectarian almost-middle-class students to then crack-needle-strewn pubsch playgrounds, supported by the church. As Linda has substantiated w/many cites, $clouty, politically-connected [anti-Pope Francis] Catholic movers/ shakers, supported by the USCCB, have joined w/Evangelicals to push for voucherschs, so as to make lemons from the lemonade of the poor who remain, replacing shrunken church donations w/taxes, i.e., stealing from Peter [pubschs] to pay Paul [voucher schs]. Absolutely same as charters.
Charter schools are killing Catholic schools. They pretend to offer the same discipline and academic rigor but without any ethical or moral values—for free. They don’t and they can’t.
CBK: innuendo is a two-way street the way you frame it. You infer motives and arguments in my comments just the same as you claim I do with you.
“cherry-picking”, what I find interesting is that this 2001 article forms the template for exactly the arguments Diane make in her books. It is lays out the arguments they have used against public education to this day, that have been coopted by the current Sec. of Education. (I take it then, that the arguments of the framers in 1789 [1789!!!] have no relevance whatsoever today–that’s the logical conclusion of your arguments.) Have you read her books? Have you read the posts on this blog over the past four years (my frame of reference). Do Catholic (Southern Baptist, Jewish day schools, etc) money-grubbers wholeheartedly adhere to the “public monies follow the student” or not? What is your view. Should they or not?
“I’ll look into the Catholic Church’s financial situation when I have time.” Isn’t it rich? Send in the clowns!! The same Catholic Church that is spending millions to pay for serial sexual abuse and then declaring selective bankruptcies to avoid doing so?
And where is your defense of Southern Baptists who continue to practice segregation–a white church and an African American one? Do you defend the abuse of Yeshivas in the NYC region whose abuses and hypocrisies are so well documented on this blog? As much as you want to paint me in a corner about Catholic schools, please tell me how you understand the concept of separation of church and state. Any church. And the State, writ large, as well as individual states.
GregB and bthree5 I don’t believe I’m reading what I am reading here from what I thought were reasonable people. I claim I don’t know what the Catholic Church is up to now, but will look into it, and GregB says “send in the clowns;” and then there’s “bilk” comment?
And you think I would defend the Church’s attitude about predatory priests? Come on, GregB . . . go find your reasonableness–I’ve seen it before here, but it’s missing from this discussion.
All in all, I think that’s a funny way to defend your failure to read your own cited articles, using innuendo to refer to an article that didn’t say what you implied . . . by using “bilk” to describe, apparently, your own bias and fantasy about what was in the article.
And bthree5 I don’t know where the Catholic Church is in this but, again, will check it out in my own time–it’s certainly not a small issue and is probably Parish-dependent in some sense.
But please read my notes as you apparently don’t understand what I was saying to GregB. The Church has a lot to answer for–I’ve said that here before many times, but apparently to deaf ears . . . as with Linda, it would be nice if you’d check your anti-Catholic bias (and ignorance?) at the door, right before the “send” button. CBK
CBK,
I understand exactly what you mean. I live with a Roman Catholic who “loves the body of belief” and ignores “the body politic.”
Diane and anyone interested. Below is a recent Q & A article that gives some insight into the Catholic School funding issue (and below that, a Wikipedia article, and then a link to “Business Insider” that gives some balanced information, even suggesting interpretive issues–it’s apparently a “live” issue presently); but I’m sure it’s much more complex than even these show, especially in the light of the different state and Parish divisions; and then movement towards privatization of everything public; and the loss of so much funding from the virus. But corporate/business takeover or ownership of Catholic Schools or any of their entities???? getting close to oxymoron here.
But the last court case cited below distinguishes funding (but in the form of services and, in this case, paving) of private schools from religious schools.
James Keenley, Ordinary, Everyday Catholic
Answered Sep 20 2019 · Author has 4.9k answers and 5.7m answer views
“It depends on which country you are referring to. In some countries, Catholic schools are fully funded by the government; in others, they receive no government funding; and in others they receive some government funding.
“In the U.S., Catholic schools — along with all other religious schools, and other private schools — can receive money from the government, and from both the federal and state governments.
“Federal funding for education in the U.S. is provided on a per pupil basis, and private schools of any type are as eligible for this type of federal funding as much as public schools. But this type of funding consists of provided services, and not direct cash funding to the schools themselves. Most typically, this consists of things like providing meals, materials, and services to underprivileged children. and providing professional development for school administrators, faculty, and staff.
“Interestingly, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued several decisions regarding public funding of public schools as it relates to First Amendment protections.
“These include:
“Cochran v. Louisiana State Board of Education (1930): Allowed private schools to use state funds allocated for purchasing textbooks in order to purchase books for a Catholic school.
“Everson v. Board of Education (1947): Upheld a program in New Jersey where funding for school bus transportation to and from school was allocated to parochial school students.
“Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971): A landmark decision, decided 8–1, it declared a law passed in Pennsylvania providing for state funding of private (mostly Catholic) school teachers salaries to be unconstitutional. This decision gave rise to what’s known today as the “Lemon test,” a way of determining the constitutionality of direct public funding of religious and other private schools.
“Aguilar v. Felton (1985): Declared unconstitutional a New York City program that paid the salaries of public school teachers who chose to work in private religious schools in underprivileged areas.
“Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017): Decided against a program in Missouri that provided grants to schools for playground resurfacing to private schools but denied the grants to religious schools.”
And this from Wikipedia (see their history page also)
“Catholic schools in the United States constitute the largest number of non-public schools in the country. They are accredited by independent and/or state agencies, and teachers are generally certified. Catholic schools are supported primarily through tuition payments and fundraising, and typically enroll students regardless of religious background.[1]”
Finally, this, and much more on the situation on Google:
https://www.businessinsider.com/catholic-schools-voucher-programs-study-2017-2
The next decision, Montana v. Espinosa, is likely to knock out all limits on funding religious schools. If so, public funds will go to every religious school, regardless of sect, cult, quality.
I support Catholic schools and believe they should be funded privately.
Hello Diane: I think the virus is making desperados of us all.
But I also think, like the example of the Texas Pastors group as one-in-many Protestant and/or evangelical churches, the Catholic Church has many factions–and many members, in my experience, understand fully the validity of the church/state distinction.
That validity is also on the side of religious institutions themselves because, without that political distinction (freedom of religion under secular/Constitutional government and its institutions), there would be no question left but WHICH church would rule the political/social domain–opening the way for single-church theocratic control and the re-emergence of religious wars.
That said, I would speculate (I think plausibly) that there are many in all religious groups who are, in their hearts, already involved in that war–not knowing that they are shooting themselves and their religious freedom in the foot.
Religious totalitarianism will probably never go away (as is evident again, in recent history); and so the dialogue between religious groups and their secular governments should always be a living, civilized, and civilizing thing; and at least in the Catholic Church, I know that ecumenical thought lives and has come a long way. CBK
Yes, Beth, Linda is much more articulate on this topic than I could ever hope to be. But what it really comes down to me is this: do you accept the separation of church and state as the framers intended (in 1789!!!, not 2001), or do you choose caveats that satisfy your biases?
More to the point: Does the federal government have an obligation to bail out religious schools? Any religious school?
Diane I forgot to say–I agree with you that funding of religious schools should be private and not come from public/tax monies. The big IF, however, is where the option of public education remains wide open for parents to fall-back on, as they are apparently doing (according to one of those posted articles).
When you get into the weeds of the thing, however, there is the idea of providing services where poor children are concerned (as in the Court cases cited earlier here).
This also points to the long-standing problem that we here are all concerned with–the ongoing quality of public schools–which was and remains a legislative problem regardless of the advent of charters and vouchers.
In the short term, when parents are only trying to offer a good education for their children, and the local schools are horrible (I’ve seen this myself in my own extended family), they take the shorter journey to whatever works in the moment. CBK
First of all CBK, don’t ever accuse me of not reading something I comment on. Ever. You know nothing about this, and your insinuation says more about you than it does me.
Second, citing Wikipedia as a source for anything outside of learning about TCM broadcast movies is folly. I checked your source, I read both the Wikipedia post (which, by looking at the references and further reading sections, are hardly balanced) and I read the source of the quote you selected. Why did you ignore this?:
“A third and more recent tactic has been tried in the Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Miami archdioceses, among others. They have converted some parochial schools to public charter schools. The benefit of this approach is that it makes these schools eligible for public funding, and therefore they are tuition free. These schools must eliminate any vestiges of Catholic identity during the school day, although some offer after-school religious education.
“It does not take a major leap to envision a situation where all parochial schools are converted to a system of public charter schools offering the rigorous and values-based education that have always been the hallmark of parochial schools while providing religious education as a voluntary after-school activity, separate from the regular curriculum. The combination would provide the holistic education that parochial school advocates value. And it would also enable the church to continue its ministry to the underserved in the nation’s inner cities.”
Third, as for sending in the clowns, don’t bother, they’re here.
GregB Thanks to Google, the stuff is there for anyone to see (caveat: who knows what’s omitted via their own editors). But the Wikipedia page gives a nice history of the Catholic Church if anyone cares to scroll down on that page.
I think the important point for all of us is the state of the federal and state legislatures–corruption, favoritism, and nepotism are creeping in everywhere creating imbalances, skepticism, and paranoia all over the place. Even the term “bilk” applies to the LCD in any group (and as we know, as is rife in the charter industry)–but applying LCD terms to an entire group, especially one as large and long-standing as the Catholic Church and its schools, doesn’t work in my book. It’s not perfect by any means; but too many good people have emerged in this and other cultures from having had a Catholic education to omit or be cavalier about what good it does and has done. CBK
By “this” I mean you know nothing about what and how I read, so don’t even go there.
GregB Okay–then I think, at least in this case, you interpreted the articles badly–so badly that it seemed to me you hadn’t even read them.
And BTW, the below quote from your note seems like a plan to me–though it’s put forth as a envisioned leap . . . it speaks of the Church accepting reasonable oversight by the secular State–something the charter industry rejects out-of-hand, and it’s a good compromise for the Church . . . IF the Federal Government and States keep doing the Charter thing, it speaks of their ability to change, especially in bad times.
Of course, I’d rather everyone support a free and excellent public education for all. But Catholic schools have been doing their thing well, and long before this neo-liberal privatization thing came into existence and when “government became the problem.” Here is the quote again from your note (my bold to refer to the writer’s speculation towards a qualified compromise–the benefit is for the student):
“A third and more recent tactic has been tried in the Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Miami archdioceses, among others. They have converted some parochial schools to public charter schools. The benefit of this approach is that it makes these schools eligible for public funding, and therefore they are tuition free. These schools must eliminate any vestiges of Catholic identity during the school day, although some offer after-school religious education.
“It does not take a major leap to envision a situation where all parochial schools are converted to a system of public charter schools offering the rigorous and values-based education that have always been the hallmark of parochial schools while providing religious education as a voluntary after-school activity, separate from the regular curriculum.
The combination would provide the holistic education that parochial school advocates value. And it would also enable the church to continue its ministry to the underserved in the nation’s inner cities.”
OK, last comment on this, didn’t expect this to turn into a brouhaha when I made the initial comment.
To be clear, I agree wholeheartedly Diane’s view that if people want to send their children to nonpublic schools, they have every right to do so and they should not expect public funds to do so. I find it interesting that you copy the same paragraph I cited but chose to emphasize the last sentence, which further entrenches me in my views. Why should taxpayers subsidize parochial education to “enable the church to continue its ministry to the underserved in the nation’s inner cities[?]” Is “enabling the church to continue its ministry” a public function? Logically, would that not include every religious point of view up to and including scientology? Now you worry and confuse me.
To be even clearer, I graduated from a Catholic high school–which was the most bigoted, intolerant place I have experienced in my life. They also produced Steve Scalise, who is the embodiment of the education the school tries to instill. I had a bigoted U.S. history teacher who, when not ignoring African Americans and other ethnic, religious and minority group, would do his best to demean them. I had an intolerant religion teacher who claimed on the first day of class, “you may not agree with what I teach, but what I teach is right.” I graduated from a Jesuit university and the education I received there gets better and better in hindsight. They taught me how to read, write, and question, something I appreciate decades later much more than I did when I graduated. I wish my public school-educated children would have chosen to attend a Jesuit university and I have advised other parents to do so, one who recently thanked me for being such a strong advocate for them because his child is thriving at one.
And I do think when tax dollars go to nonpublic education we are indeed being bilked. I feel the same way about exorbitant military spending and when there is no oversight or accountability on any public spending. With respect to religious education, we either stand for the first amendment or we don’t. When some argue that public funds go to “enabling the church to continue its ministry,” I would argue that they fundamentally don’t under the first amendment’s freedom of religion clause. If the church can’t do it on it’s own dime, don’t come to me to help solve their problem.
GregB That’s why I bolded “tuition free” in the article . . . which benefits students and parents who still want their children to experience the fullness of an education that has a mediated relationship with their religious tradition.
Don’t forget the weeds–the granular this-ness of pragmatic implementation is where we can (but don’t necessarily or always) transcend ourselves, both personally and institutionally (to use a term the Jesuit philosophers like to use).
The other extreme is where many religious people’s fear lies–in the outright suppression and rejection of all religious meaning in the education of their children and our citizens. CBK
OK, this is the LAST comment. Do you not see the logical fallacy of, on the one hand, accepting public funds to stay in business and, on the other, claiming that by staying in business to offer religious education after school and claim it is “tuition-free”? What would your answer be if the religious education offered was scientology? Just posing that as a rhetorical question. Signing out of this one now.
GregB The tip-off to the short-sighted fallacy in your note is your reference to the Church or to religion as such, as a business. Of course churches have finances and exist in capitalist cultures. But it’s intent is not merely to be a business in the sense of corporations like Ford or Walmart, or the oligarchs among us. This is something I would have thought your classical education would have acquainted you with.
From that (I would say broader) point of view, however, the true and good meaning of the Catholic Church and its schools, as well as other religious institutions, is to keep a right and living (non-extreme) relationship with the religious question that lives in all of us and that has done so in all of history, btw.
Historically-speaking, all religious traditions are answers to that residing question of “ultimate concern.” Regardless of its variety of answers in history, that question won’t go away (ask the Russians). If that’s so, then, as having the political power, secular governments are charged with rightly mediating their own relationship to the free expression of religion in the public domain and in the culture at large.
Certainly, there are lots of weeds . . . like mediating freedom to attend church in a pandemic, and public health . . . it’s not for sissies. CBK
Diane, all the K-8 Catholics in our neck of the woods (central NJ) folded before charters were on the scene – except the one in our chi-chi town where people can afford the crazy-hi prop taxes and Cathsch tuition. I can’t say I’m sorry to see them go, maybe even among urban poor, as the only reason they ever made a go of it was by paying their teachers next to nothing. Charter schools never should have happened, but I can’t see propping up a losing proposition (the Cathschs) w/tax $ despite their morals. The church can’t afford them because the [US] church itself dwindles steadily in membership.
CBK maybe we’re misunderstanding each other? I have no anti-Catholic bias; I am Catholic. I also (unlike Linda) have no bugaboos about predator priests – well enough versed in that subject to know the same crap goes on in other denominational schools and many other settings – nor do I have some feminist objection to Catholic teachings [I’m fairly tolerant & understanding of how slowly such things move in churches – few denominations are particularly enlightened or protective of womens rights let alone LGBTQ; one has to shop around & depend on individual tolerant pastors…]
My objection is to Catholic voucher schools (or any religious voucher schools, or any voucher schools), that’s all I’m saying. Also saying that I’m very unhappy that the hierarchy, in the form of USCCB, has stepped into the fray & declared themselves wholeheartedly in favor of “school choice”! They are pushing for vouchers. And thanks gregB for that input on DC, Indiana & Miami: I was sure I’d read of Catholic charter schools, but never could find any info online. That will no doubt become a trend if states keep blurring/ erasing the church-state line.
Catherine, the funding you quote is not like the per-pupil allotments to charters and vouchers: the private school I taught at in the ‘70’s got state & some fed aid for the same sorts of things. I believe the idea is, as you say, to help out kids in need regardless of school they attend. But wholesale chunky per-pupil allotment of taxes to church or any private schools steals from the public schools, and is part of ignoring/ underfunding all schools for the public. It’s a divide&conquer sort of thing: the pot stays small & keeps shrinking, and they divvy it up among more schools.
bethree5 Good points. While reading the first part of your note, I thought of the Boy Scouts–though no “look who else is doing it” argument can lessen the size of the wound of child sexual abuse, and the institutional complicity with it, on the Catholic Church.
Also, in the case of Catholic schools, battles won and lost in education are still fought in the larger field of the CONCERTED and rotten-at-its-core neo-liberal war on democracy and the privatization of all. This, I think, is central to the last part of your note (copied below).
Though “separation of church and state” is still an active distinction in policy-makers’ minds, it seems the long-term plan is, as you say, divide and conquer. It’s methods are long-term and slippery-slope, like the “camels nose under the tent,” placing “foxes in chicken houses,” controlling the dialogue with canned talking points, and just plain Orwellian duplicity, along with the general saturation of consciousness with capitalist-only ideals, like pay for play, win-lose, and trade-off thinking. CBK
From your note: “But wholesale chunky per-pupil allotment of taxes to church or any private schools steals from the public schools, and is part of ignoring/under-funding all schools for the public. It’s a divide & conquer sort of thing: the pot stays small & keeps shrinking, and they divvy it up among more schools.”
CBK The “predatory priest” slam on Catholic schools & services is a huge subject. My Mom was an activist Catholic of the leftwing variety– AND our family background was mixed Cath-Prot– AND she was a victim of sexual abuse herself. So we had multi-denominational religious types [mostly Catholic] in & out of the house for decades, related to her activities (which included scouts/ camps & church youth services as well as adult church discussion groups, home masses, etc). If you’ve made any study of sexual-abuse victims, you’ll recognize a pattern: they are attracted to friendships w/priests/ ministers, as such tend to be non-threatening sexually, & usually play father-role to parishioners [& many victims of sexual abuse were deprived of unconditionally-loving fathers] . Because of her 6th sense for pedophiles, she was aware of those w/n her sphere who were currently “celibate” in that regard, but who had bounced from Catholic to Lutheran to other-Protestant to YMCA, & from priest to religsch teacher to camp counselor to scoutmaster, due to lapses. My take on the subject re: the RC scandal is that somehow they got highlighted, & prosecuted. It’s a good thing to get it in the open, but it it’s hardly “Catholic,” & needs to be understood as a widespread phenomenon that pops up in any & every setting.
bethree5 Yes, . . . and then there’s the institutional duplicity and outright support. CBK
CBK: “the true and good meaning of the Catholic Church and its schools, as well as other religious institutions, is to keep a right and living (non-extreme) relationship with the religious question that lives in all of us and that has done so in all of history.”
I really get and relate to this. I separate myself from those who argue the school-funding issue from that secular, atheistic POV which scoffs at religion or even just basic human spiritualism.
However. I strongly believe we need to hold the line on separation between church and state as regards school funding. As I said, I’m fine w/providing fed/ state funds to all schoolchildren needing food, SpEd services, or even safe playgrounds. All schools’ students whether public, charter, or private should be linked in to community social funding. But we should not be funding the basic operations of any but public schools. As a mixed Prot-Cath person who attended both [for some yrs, on the same Sunday!], I’m like, why can’t the Catholics just run Sunday school during Sunday services – maybe kids emerge at the end for communion? No need for separate FT schools that church can’t afford & look to taxpayers to provide. And– as shrewd organs such as the Catholic Reporter have warned: tax-funding comes w/strings attached, which potentially undermines the intent of Carholic instruction.
Obviously the duplicity & institutional support is reprehensible. But the RC church is an easy target, they’re an organizational monolith so it’s pretty simple to trace it. Compare the multitude of Prot churches [9 to 2 in my town of 30k, & add to the 9 a few oddball sorta-Prot non-denominationals]. Even the mainstreamers (Meth, Presby, Bap) are decentralized and less rigidly top-down by comparison. Betcha plenty gets swept under rug there too but harder to track. Not to mention all the other big & small orgs working w/kids. The way things generally go down in situations w/which I’m personally familiar is somebody (parent or staff) picks up a vibe they don’t like, a word is said, the person is quietly let go. That person finds another similar job in another community. Same difference.
Why? Because the majority are small private businesses. They certainly aren’t public schools.
Thankful for crackerjack investigative news reporting.
“The D.C. Public Charter School Board, the city board that regulates the schools, said it doesn’t know, and the D.C. Council’s Education Committee chair said the same. .. FOCUS, a leading D.C. charter advocacy organization, has been the public contact point for schools interested in applying. But its director, Anne Herr, said she also does not know. Oversight of the relief money “belongs to the federal government,” she said. ”
WHY this lack of transparency? HOW is it legally permissible? Obviously PPP should have been directed to those w/, say, under 50 employees, not under 500. But there is apparently plenty of transparency for corp beneficiaries of PPP, as we see the larger among them either give back the $ or defensively justify their right to it.
Is this just all about that gray neither beast-nor-fowl classification of charters as private or public when/as it benefits their bottom line? Whole lotta double/ triple-dipping gonna be going on here, as charters take in 50-90% of state per-pupil funds– [are they even continuing teaching online, like pubschs?]– then claim 100% PPP forgivable loans as they keep on 100% of staff which is already 50-90% pd for by taxpayers!!
This up-to-date account of the distribution of Covid-19 funds in Arkansas, home of the Walton (pushers of charters everywhere), is worth looking at. This report shows when the applications were made, by whom, when the funds will be available, and how the funds are likely to be used, given the affordances in the federal legislation. This report also shows that applications for the funds were often coordinated and tied to definitions of “a district.” This is the first report I have seen that gives estimated dollar amounts to schools and districts. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/may/19/school-systems-get-estimates-on-grants-/