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Russ Walsh: Vouchers Are for the Rich, the Racists, and the Religious Right

By dianeravitch
March 7, 2017 //
12

Russ Walsh, literacy expert, describes the Three are of vouchers: They are for the Rich, the Racists, and the Religious Right.

http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2017/03/school-vouchers-welfare-for-rich-racist.html

Russ writes:

“Our new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is rich, white, and a proselytizing supporter of the Christian religious right. DeVos is also an outspoken champion of school vouchers. These two things are not coincidences. While voucher proponents will tell you, and some may even believe, that their push for vouchers is a push to make sure all children have the opportunity to get a great education, the real benefactors of school vouchers are the rich, the white and the religious right….

DeVos claims that voucher opponents are foes of change and champions of the status quo. I hope to show that it is the voucher schemes and the DeVos’ of the world who are championing the status quo – the status quo where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer as we see happening in this country right now.

“What are the problems with vouchers? Do vouchers achieve the supposed goal of improving educational opportunity for low-income and minority children? Many have cataloged the issues, but here is a quick list with some links for further reading.

*Vouchers do not improve student academic performance

*Vouchers do not improve opportunities for low-income children

*Vouchers lead to private schools of questionable quality

*Voucher divert public money to unaccountable private institutions

*Vouchers undermine religious liberty

*Vouchers do further harm to already struggling public schools

*Vouchers enable discrimination and segregation

So why the push for vouchers? Because vouchers are very good for the rich. If the rich can sell vouchers as the cure for educational inequality, they may be able to get people to ignore the real reason for public education struggles – income inequity. If the rich really want to improve schools, they need to put their money on the line. If the rich are really interested in helping poor school children they need to invest – through higher taxes (or maybe just by paying their fair share of taxes), not unreliable philanthropy, in improved health care, child care, parental education, pre-school education, public school infrastructure and on and on. This will be expensive, but we can do it if the wealthy would show the same dedication to the “civil rights issue of our time” with their wallets as they show to harebrained schemes like vouchers.”

Categories Betsy DeVos, Privatization, Racism, Religion, Vouchers

Mercedes Schneider on the State Blaine Amendments That Block Vouchers

By dianeravitch
March 6, 2017 //
28

Mercedes Schneider offers a history lesson on the Blaine amendments found in most state constitutions, which require that public money go only to public schools. Some states–like Indiana–have found creative ways to interpret the Blaine amendment, by saying that the public money goes to parents, not to religious schools, but most states continue to interpret the amendments as they were written in the late 19th century.

What is a Blaine amendment and who was James G. Blaine? Schneider explains.

James G. Blaine voiced the strong anti-Catholic sentiment of his era, a sentiment shared by many other elected officials. He tried and failed to get an amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring the spending of public funds on religious schools. But most states incorporated his language, reserving public money for public schools.

Some have argued that the religious bias behind the amendments should invalidate them, but the fact that these amendments have been on the books for about 150 years makes a challenge seem improbable.

However, a challenge is in the wings. The wealthy, successful schools of Douglas County in Colorado (where a radical faction of the community won control of the school board) adopted a voucher plan; the Colorado Supreme Court said it violated the state constitution in a 4-3 decision. The district announced it would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Colorado Attorney General sides with the district. The possible addition of Neal Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court would strengthen the case for vouchers, because Gorsuch is known for his strong views defending religious freedom, which in this case might mean public support for religious schools.

The case is called Douglas County School District v. Taxpayers for Public Education. Thus far, it has not been certified for appeal. Keep your eyes on this one. It could be the one that deals a knock-out blow to separation of church and state. Or the Supreme Court might pass it by, for now.

Categories Religion, Separation of church and state

Thank You to the Pastors for Texas Children for Defending Public Schools and Religious Freedom

By dianeravitch
March 5, 2017 //
8

As the prospects for passage of voucher legislation diminish in Texas, it is time to give thanks to the tireless work of the Pastors for Texas Children. The battle is not over until the legislative session ends, but it is still time to thank those who have worked so hard on behalf of our children, their teachers, and their public schools.

This is an organization with some 2,000 members who represent faith communities across the state. They are led by Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, who understands that separation of church and state is the best protection for religious liberty and that every child in the state should have an excellent public education.

Here is an excerpt from his weekly bulletin:

A Note from Rev. Charles Foster Johnson – Executive Director of PTC

We are conducting introductory conversations with faith leaders all over the country as news of our mission spreads. We have been in productive conference calls this week with Episcopal leaders of Massachusetts and Virginia, as well as church leaders fighting privatization in Indiana. We have had face-to-face meetings with pastors in Kentucky and Mississippi, and are grateful now to have our first state partner affiliate in Pastors for Oklahoma Kids. The movement to mobilize the faith community for public education support and advocacy is going nationwide!

Of course, our main focus is right here in Texas where we still have much work to do in fighting bad policies such as the SB 3 “school choice” voucher bill, the punishing A-F assessment, and the petty SB 13 bill banning payroll deductions… and supporting good policies such as increased funding for our schools, good benefits for our teachers, and full day Pre-K instruction for our youngest children.

To this end, our PTC president Rev. Bobby Broyles is leading us in a statewide initiative to cover our Legislators in prayer. We want to assign each member a pastor as a prayer partner. If you are a pastor, we may be calling you to help with this vital ministry! [Emphasis added by me.]

Upcoming Events

REGISTER NOW! – Prayer Luncheon, Advocacy Training, and Legislative Briefing – 10 am to 2 pm on March 6, 2017 in Austin, Texas: Join Pastors for Texas Children at the historic First United Methodist Church of Austin for a meaningful prayer luncheon for our legislators and for a legislative briefing as we advance through the 85th session of the Texas Legislature. We will be praying for our senators and representatives as they face the difficult task of making policy decisions for Texas. We will learn about the issues related to fair and just education policy for all Texas children. And, we will make legislative visits to our respective policymakers in the Capitol. Click here to find out more and to register.

Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium—We are privileged to be a part of the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium under the direction of our good friend, Jennifer Esterline. All of the foundations, funders, and advocates in TEGAC are urging the Legislature to fund high quality full day pre-kindergarten programs that give our children the solid educational foundation they need to succeed. TEGAC’s annual meeting is this Tuesday and Wednesday in Austin.

The Pastors for Texas Children is working with pastors in other states and encouraging them to form similar organizations to support public schools and keep their faith communities free from government mandates and controls.

I must say I love the PTC idea of assigning a pastor as a prayer partner for every member of the legislature!

Categories Religion, Separation of church and state, Texas

Jeff Bryant: Trump and DeVos Want Vouchers to Promote Religious Fundamentalism

By dianeravitch
March 2, 2017 //
78

This is an alarming post. Read at your own peril.

Trump gave a shout out to the glories of vouchers when he spoke to Congress. DeVos, a religious zealot, smiled with gratification as her 30-year crusade to transfer public funds to religious schools now appears near accomplishment.

Trump pointed to a young woman who had achieved success because of receiving a voucher funded by a tax credit in Florida. Her accomplishments are considerable.

But what kind of school did she attend?

“Over the past three years, Merriweather has had the opportunity to tell her story in numerous media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, the Tampa Bay Times, and The 74 (a pro school choice media site funded by charter school and voucher advocates such as the Walton Family Foundation and the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation). She’s also been the subject of pro school choice profiles in politically conservative news outlets. And after Merriweather was highlighted at the Trump’s speech, she was interviewed by Fox News.

“None of this is to take away from the sincerity of Merriweather’s writing or the validity of her lived experience. But it needs to be noted that few public school students have had such prominent venues to repeatedly tell their success stories.

“Further, the school Merriweather attended through the school choice program Trump champions is no ordinary school.

“Religious Fundamentalism At Taxpayer Expense

“The private school Merriweather attended and graduated from is the Esprit De Corps Center for Learning in Jacksonville which she has described in testimony she gave last year to a U.S. House Committee as “a church based school, a church that I actually attended.”

“According to the Esprit de Corps website, the “vision for the school was birthed from the mind of God in the heart of Dr. Jeannette C. Holmes-Vann, the Pastor and Founder of Hope Chapel Ministries, Inc.” The education philosophy guiding the school is based on “a return to a traditional educational model founded on Christian principles and values. In accordance with this vision, each component of the school was purposefully selected and designed.”

“A significant “component” of the Esprit de Corps school is its adherence to a fundamentalist Christian curriculum. Its official listing in a Jacksonville directory of private schools describes its education program as a “spiritual emphasis and Biblical [sic] view, which permeates the A-Beka curriculum.”

“A Beka is one of the most widely used K-12 curriculum series for home schooling and private Christian schools,” Rachel Tabachnick explains to me in an email. “This includes many private schools receiving public dollars through voucher and tax-credit programs.”

“Tabachnick has collected textbooks used by voucher and corporate tax-credit schools for over ten years, including curriculum from A Beka Book and Bob Jones University Press.

“In an investigative article for Alternet in 2011, Tabachnick writes, “Throughout the K-12 curriculum, A Beka consistently presents the Bible as literal history and science. This includes teaching young earth creationism and demeaning other religions and other Christian faiths including Roman Catholicism.”

“An A Beka history text she reviews teaches that “socialist propaganda” exaggerated the Great Depression “so that Franklin Delano Roosevelt could pass New Deal legislation” and that the Vietnam War “divided the country into the ‘hawks who supported the fight against Communism, and doves, who were soft on Communism.’”

“Tabachnick quotes a fourth-grade A Beka text that celebrates President Ronald Reagan’s presidency under a banner of “A Return to Patriotism and Family Values.” In describing President Bill Clinton’s administration, an A Beka high school history text calls First Lady Hilary Clinton’s effort to overhaul health care as a “plan for socialized medicine” and describes Vice President Al Gore as “known for his radical environmentalism.”

“Christ Is History, Africans Are Inferior

“In her emails to me, Tabachnick shares excerpts from a newer edition of A Beka’s textbook on “History and Civil Government” that teaches, “The first advent of Jesus Christ to earth – His incarnation, birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension – is the focal point of history. History began with God and His act of Creation. I climaxed with Gods’ act of redemption.” (emphasis original)

“In the current edition of A Beka’s 10th grade history text “World History and Cultures in Christian Perspective” Tabachnick shares with me, “modern liberalism” is described as “the desire to be free from absolute standards and morals, especially the Scriptures.”

“From this text, high school students like Denisha Merriweather learn, “The beginning of the 20th century witnessed a cultural breakdown that threatened to destroy the very roots of Western civilization. The cause of this of this dissolution was the idea or philosophy known as liberalism.” (emphasis original)

“The curriculum used by Esprit de Corps also taught Merriweather and her African American classmates about the innate inferiority of the African continent and its people.

“The textbooks teach the narrative that the people of African nations descended from Noah’s son Ham and that Ham’s descendant Nimrod led the rebellion against God by building the Tower of Babel,” Tabachnick tells me. This Biblically supported lesson is often referred to as “the curse of Ham,” which has historically been a primary justification for slavery among Southern Christians, according to numerous sources.

“In the A Beka text “History and Civil Government,” Adam and Eve are referred to as “the parents of humanity” and racial variations in human kind are described as the result of “recessive traits” due to “(1) a rapidly changing environment, (2) a small population, (3) and extensive inbreeding.”

“Current A Beka texts also falsely claim that only ten percent of the population of Africa is literate and that literacy rates may drop further because of communists shutting down mission schools,” Tabachnick tells me.”

Read the entire article. Ask yourself whether religious fundamentalism provides the kind of education that our nation’s children need to prepare for a complex world.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, Religion, Separation of church and state, Trump, Vouchers

Betsy DeVos, Religious Extremist: Watch This Video Before It is Deleted

By dianeravitch
February 26, 2017 //
102

Betsy and Dick DeVos funded the Student Statesmanship Institute in Michigan, which literally indoctrinates young students into what it considers a “Biblical world view.”

This video lasts for several minutes. Don’t stop watching at pauses. It is likely to be deleted soon. Save it if you can.

Listen to the leader praise Lenin, Hitler, and Stalin for their ability to brainwash the young. Watch the students chant their allegiance. Hear the leader express the hope that the young people indoctrinated into Biblical values will one day fill the Michigan legislature, both chambers.

Do not be fooled. DeVos and her family are funders and patrons of the Religious Right. They are intolerant. Did she defend federal protection of the rights of transgender students? I doubt it. The students in this video are taught certainty, not respect for the views of those who are different.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Religion

BREAKING NEWS! Trump Opposes Anti-Semitism

By dianeravitch
February 21, 2017 //
48

Today, while visiting the African American Museum in D.C., Trump said he thinks that anti-Semitism is “horrible.”

This was in response to an alarming rise in threats directed at Jewish community centers across the nation and to vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, where headstones were overturned.

Trump said he speaks out against anti-Semitism whenever he has the chance but he did not do so at his press conference when a young Jewish journalist asked him to speak out against the growth of anti-Semitism. Instead, Trump berated the reporter, reacted personally, and said he was “the least anti-Semitic person” ever, in non-response to the question.

This followed the strange White House statement commemorating the Holocaust that failed to mention the six million Jews who perished.

Although His beloved daughter Ivanka to Jared Kushner, who is Jewish, Trump has a Jewish problem. Maybe he doesn’t want to offend his alt-right buddies, like Steve Bannon, or David Duke.

Categories Bias, Education Reform, Religion

Texas: Pastors Leading the Fight Against Vouchers!

By dianeravitch
February 21, 2017 //
18

There is a wonderful organization in Texas called Pastors for Texas Children, led by the indefatigable Pastor Charles Foster Johnson of Fort Worth.

Their members span the state, and they have worked with public schools and parents to oppose vouchers, which would destroy many communities and defund their community’s public schools.

Pastor Johnson recently sent out this letter:

Pastors for Texas Children is a three-year-old organization that mobilizes the faith community for public education assistance and advocacy. Our website is http://www.pastorsfortexaschildren.com

Our goal is to connect every single local congregation to every single public school in wrap-around care and school improvement assistance – especially high-need schools in poor neighborhoods. We do this always under the authority of the local superintendent and principal – and always scrupulously adhering to the principles of religious liberty and church/state separation.

We believe fully in the First Amendment prohibition against any religious instruction in our public schools. But we also believe that faith communities should be 100% behind public education as a core institution of democratic society and the common good.

In addition to this local school assistance, we also advocate for good and just public education policy in state government. We favor full funding for our schools, particularly universal Pre-K instruction, and we oppose any privatization of our public schools, especially vouchers. We have become a significant voice in preventing a voucher bill from passing in Texas.

We presently have 2000 partners in our organization representing 1000 congregations, and are rapidly expanding. Our movement has spread to Oklahoma where Pastors for Oklahoma Kids has just been established. We are holding conversations with ministers in several other states, and hope to spread our mission nationwide.

If you are interested in helping us do this– or connecting us to your minister and or congregation– please do not hesitate to call the Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, executive director, at 210-378-1066 or email him at charlie@charlesfosterjohnson.com

We at the Network for Public Education have offered our full assistance to Pastor Johnson and his group. Our Texas members have generated hundreds of letters to their legislators. We are delighted to see that this movement to strengthen separation of church and state has spread to Oklahoma. We hope that faith leaders in communities across the nation reach out of Pastor Johnson and learn how to create an effective organization in their own state. A group like this could do a world of good in the South and the Midwest, especially in communities where the public school is the hub of the community and where competition will defund the public schools.

I can’t think of anything more effective than having faith leaders insisting on separation of church and state. Thoughtful faith leaders know that they should retain their autonomy and that federal and state money will in time erode their religious freedom. If churches need federal or state money to survive, they don’t have a strong base of support among their members, and they will pay a steep price for public aid.

Categories Religion, Separation of church and state, Texas

ALERT! GOP Congress Launches First Effort to Undermine Public SCHOOLS!

By dianeravitch
February 21, 2017 //
53

Republicans in The House of Representatives have proposed legislation that would require states to adopt vouchers or lose their federal funding. This is an outrage! This is step one of the Trump-DeVos agenda to force vouchers and charters on states that do not want them. This is a blatant misuse of federal power to coerce states to go along with religious zealots like DeVos.

The legislation, HR 610, has been filed. Let your Representative in Congress know that you oppose this egregious federal overreach. Support The Network for Public Education as we rally supporters of public schools to repel this obnoxious legislation.

The language of the legislation and the steps you can take to oppose it are included here.

If you do not want your tax dollars to fund evangelical religious schools, madrassas, or yeshivas, get active.

If you believe in public schools with certified teachers who teach modern science and history, not religious fervor, get active.

Speak up. Speak out. Defend separation of church and state. Defend your community public schools. Stop the raid on the public school funds.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Religion, Separation of church and state, Trump, Vouchers

Washington Post: The Trump-DeVos Evangelical Agenda for America’s Schools

By dianeravitch
February 17, 2017 //
22

Emma Brown of the Washington Post wrote about the radical rightwing evangelical agenda for America’s schools. A little-known but elite evangelical group called the Center for National Policy laid out the plans. (Peter Greene wrote about this scary little manifesto a few days ago, but his circulation is not near that of the Washington Post.) Members of the Center for National Policy represent the “who’s who” of the Christian Right.

It begins:

“A policy manifesto from an influential conservative group with ties to the Trump administration, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, urges the dismantling of the Education Department and bringing God into American classrooms.

“The five-page document produced by the Council for National Policy calls for a “restoration of education in America” that would minimize the federal role, promote religious schools and home schooling and enshrine “historic Judeo-Christian principles” as a basis for instruction.

“Names of the council’s members are closely held. But the Southern Poverty Law Center published a 2014 membership directory showing that Stephen K. Bannon — now chief White House strategist for President Trump — was a member and that Kellyanne Conway — now counselor to the president — served on the council’s executive committee.

“DeVos was not listed as a member, but her mother, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, was named on the council’s board of governors. Her father-in-law, Amway founder Richard DeVos Sr., twice served as president, most recently from 1990 to 1993. And she and her husband have given money to the council as recently as 2007 through their family foundation, according to federal tax records.”

Apparently this group never heard of “separation of church and state.” If they did, they oppose it.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Religion, Trump

Sinclair Lewis Did Not Write That

By dianeravitch
February 6, 2017 //
22

In recent weeks, I have seen several references to this phrase, attributed to Sinclair Lewis: “When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” I thought it might have come from either It Can’t Happen Here or Elmer Gantry. Not being sure, and not having a photographic memory of books I read half a century ago, I googled the phrase. I discovered the Sinclair Lewis Society in Illinois, and its website says this:

 

Here’s our most asked question:

 

Q: Did Sinclair Lewis say, “When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross”?

 

A: This quote sounds like something Sinclair Lewis might have said or written, but we’ve never been able to find this exact quote. Here are passages from two novels Lewis wrote that are similar to the quote attributed to him.

 

From It Can’t Happen Here: “But he saw too that in America the struggle was befogged by the fact that the worst Fascists were they who disowned the word ‘Fascism’ and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty.”

 

From Gideon Planish: “I just wish people wouldn’t quote Lincoln or the Bible, or hang out the flag or the cross, to cover up something that belongs more to the bank-book and the three golden balls.”

 

There was also a play called Strangers in the late 1970s which had a similar quote, but no one, including one of Lewis’s biographers, Richard Lingeman, has ever been able to locate the original citation.

Categories Propaganda, Religion
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