I wrote about the purchase of the Texas State Board of Education by the chairman of the board of Hillsdale in a previous post.
The state board rejected an application for a Hillsdale charter school, and the rejection was supported by three Republicans on the board.
In retaliation, the chairman of the Hillsdale College board contributed $250,000 to a PAC to punish the errant Republicans. The PAC replaced two of them with privatizers, and the third was redistricted out of his seat.
Now, it’s smooth sailing for the theocratic, 1776-themed Hillsdale charters, which cater to white students.
The Hillsdale website lists its current charter schools.
What it does not mention is that the Hillsdale Classical Academies have collected millions of dollars in federal funding from the federal Charter Schools Program.
Here is a sampling of Hillsdale-Barney charter schools that have applied for and received federal funding:
Ascent Classical Academy of Northern Colorado $671,000
Treasure Valley Classical Academy Idaho $1.25 million
Ivywood Classical Academy Michigan 1 million and managed by a for-profit
Seven Oaks Classical School, Indiana $899,962
St. Johns Classical Academy, Florida $513,000
Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at West Melbourne Florida $612,363.00
Golden View Classical Academy Colorado $215,000
Atlanta Classical Academy $650,000
Estancia Valley Classical, New Mexico, $647,349
Doesn’t it make you furious to know that our tax dollars are supporting this Trump -Christian charter chain?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Soooo SICK!
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Strictly speaking, we should describe these movements as ecclesiocratic not theocratic and as promoting ecclesiocracy as a form of government.
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Hi Jon Awbrey Would you care to elaborate on your understanding of the difference between theocratic and ecclesiocracy? Thanks. (My other note went to moderation.) CBK
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Theocracy means (a usually monotheistic) God has the power of rule.
Ecclesiocracy means a church (or churches) and priests have the power.
But “God Rules” is a no-brainer in principle for anyone who believes in an omnipotent God, so the real question is who gets to dictate what God supposedly dictates, and that is who rules in practice.
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Jon Awbrey Thank you for your explanation.
My first thought is that fascism can inform either, though not necessarily. It goes by any other name but its own, which is why exposure is do deadly to it.
Also, as Roy T. suggests (and explores as concrete history) in another note here, the fascist takes on the guises of a chameleon precisely to get close and to lay a slow but effective claim on the living subtleties of degenerating decline that remain potential in the human spirit. I remain a quasi-capitalist at heart, but not of the klepto-kind. CBK
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My God or your god?
That’s the question.
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an essential summation: WHO gets to dictate….
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ciedie aech “Who gets to dictate?” That’s why the process must remain “accountable” with plenty of “sunshine;” and so at once open and circular, always returning back to an intelligent, reasonable, responsible polity and citizenship which, itself, is in tension with the laws.
And that’s why democracy remains fundamentally an experiment. All of us have to recognize the right distinction and an adequate relationship between our political and religious dimensions as human beings.
There is embedded in the whole of democracy, then, a tensional existence and so, further, a requirement of thoughtfulness, and of at least peaceful co-existence. CBK
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“My God or your god?
That’s the question.”
Some queries:
Why is the “God” of mine capitalized and not your “god”?
Whose god? and/or Which god?
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My God gets a capital letter. Your god does not. Works every time.
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Jon- I agree we need clarity and, I understand that in presenting an issue to the public, esoteric definitions will fail.
For American democracy, the primary understanding the public must have is that the pluralistic Catholic Church of the 70’s is not the Church’s political bent in 2022. The Church is a primary locus of power for right wing politics
IMO, American ecclesiocracy (a word in so little use, it gets a spell check) or theocracy is a distinction that should take a backseat. First, up, religion-protecting mainstream media need to either stop giving cover to right wing Catholics by labeling them evangelical, used as a PR ploy to distance them from the Church’s reputation or, they need to tell the public when government officials like those on SCOTUS and political influencers concur with the common evangelical belief in the Rapture. The Rapture is a nihilistic belief with dire consequences for political decision making.
The public also needs to be made fully aware that right wing Catholic power brokers have the political arm of the bishops (state Catholic Conferences) working for them and have the Church’s financial backing for their agendas.
As a footnote, Slate (5-2-2021) described the intersection of politics and belief in the Rapture. The article provides a good history of the “language of faith used to sway the public into supporting the priorities of corporate America…propping up White power structures.”
The differences religious belief create between mainstream protestants/ the secular and, conservative Catholics, like former Secretary of Education, Bill Bennett, were made evident this week. On a Fox panel about the mass murder atrocities In the U.S., Bennett added a solution, religious exorcisms.
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Linda and Jon From my understanding of the Catholic Church as an institution, again, it has claimed to be evangelical for a very long time, though different in manifestation. Also, the liaison between what most mean by “evangelical” (as in “shallow/stupid Protestants”), at their higher levels which, in my view DO have an intellectual thread, are not fully aligned with the Catholic Church’s doctrine. (<–I read this recently, but don’t have the citation. If I find it, I will post.)
But if you mean by your note that the American people, including the genuinely faithful, need to become more politically aware of their own organizations’ political doings, my view is that you would be right. Put that in a corporate/business/oligarch context, and you’ll probably be fired.
FYI also, I know allot of people from both Catholic and Protestant faiths, and NONE believes in any version of “the rapture.” CBK
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Linda A panel on Fox News? What do you expect? CBK
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Diane and All I’ve been trying to fathom how anyone/group/organization can even THINK they do not need oversight and accountability, especially with taxpayer funding. As we are finally finding in the Supreme Court . . . it’s a verion of “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In a lesser version, e.g., for charter schools, I think there’s plenty of evidence that:
An absence of oversight and accountability is a recipe for corruption.
I suggest that at least SOME of the no-oversight thinking concerns the underlying idea that “government schools” work under the same principles that govern businesses. If so, it follows that so-called government-funded PUBLIC schools are in competition with charters and others, whether so-called non-profit or private, or combinations. The logic goes:
You wouldn’t want a competitor to have oversight of (be in control of) your business.
Whether that thinking is a part of a propaganda campaign and/or just mental slippage on the part of the polity AND of government officials themselves, the outcome is the same: the easier it becomes to think accountability is not needed, and especially since it’s not wanted by those who have so much money to spread around.
In my view, a (supposed) misunderstanding of the great difference between public and private in the United States is either fascist playbook-methodology OR just a part of the political stupidity that is so evident today, even in lawyer circles, as is coming clear in the January 6th hearings. I would be embarrassed to have been one of their teachers.
And BTW, in my view, calling them or themselves “Christian” is a real stretch. Goes to show it’s more about ignorance, bias, bad character, and ill-will than about anything in the Gospels. CBK
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$10 Million + And This Is Just The Tip Of Their Iceberg.
That May 2022 Nashville TN Road to Majority Policy Conference was all about MONEY. These Hillsdale-inspired Classical Academies are all about Big Money.
They may hide behind the Violent rhetoric of Christian Dominionism.
But their Biblically-Derived Mandate is to take control of our Public Dollars.
By Any Means Necessary.
MOMS FOR LIBERTY have their bank accounts ideologically linked to the Christian Cash Cow Con Game. Jesus Christ is their ATM. Their catechized children are pawns and prisoners of a political Ponzi scheme. Our Democracy and our Public Schools are the victims.
Let’s not be distracted by the 7 Mountain Evangelical Evil enabling a fascist-oligarchy takeover.
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You’re aware that school privatization is a campaign advanced by the state Catholic Conferences (sometimes co-hosting events with the Koch network)? You’re aware that Hillsdale’s links to conservative Catholics are as great or greater than its links to protestant conservatives (it began as linked to neither)? You’re aware that Indiana Catholics take credit for school choice legislation in their state?
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My apologies- I jumped the gun. A commenter, other than me was going to make the points here.
In a related note, an internet search of Clarence Thomas Hillsdale College
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When my wise brother was but a young man, building houses for individuals that wanted something unique, he noticed the financial rise of the fundamentalist groups around him. I recall his commenting that those groups seemed to get more and more wealthy due to their hard work and sober living. Once wealthy, they took to the extravagant lifestyle of other wealthy people, minus the parts of it they could not abide because of their values.
John Wesley, the English founder of Methodism, grew cynical about his movement in his old age. He felt that his followers had quite forgotten the lessons that had pulled them up in the world. Their sober and inclusive life had produced wealth in their communities. Now they turned from the inclusive spreading of this wealth to the belief that they had acquired the wealth of their own efforts. Not so, suggested Wesley. You got your money because God gave it to you, and your religious duty is to spread it to those who need it.
My brother and John Wesley. Sound like a coupe of socialists.
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John Awbrey . . . my reply went to moderation again. One wonders . . . someone else here suggested that WordPress has a political bent . . . one wonders. CBK
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I follow your blog and live in New Mexico. I have five family members who work in public education in four different states. Those states are Arizona, New Mexico, New York and Virginia.
The safety of my family members, especially those involved with local unions and the local Board of Education often keeps me up at night.
Here’s an example of a fundraising effort from Estancia Valley Classical, New Mexico, which you noted received $647,349 in Federal funds.
Granted it is a rural community but the fundraiser is disturbing nonetheless. See attachments.
Many thanks for being a champion.
Best regards, Emily Mayer Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Thank you, Emily Mayer.
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Hillsdale is apparently a hot bed of fascism in the US.
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Hotbed of xtian randian libertarian fascism. Being able to confuse and conflate all four descriptors into one being is their forte.
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Similar “lowering”, albeit, of the test score requirement is happening in the Show Me State. https://www.thecentersquare.com/missouri/missouri-lowers-teacher-testing-requirements-to-meet-demand/article_e431b1d0-f330-11ec-9c8f-f3dc93058ba1.html
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