Americans United for Separation of Church and State has launched an investigation into the state of Ohio reportedly funding at least $3 million of construction and renovation at private religious schools.
This year, the state made history by offering grants directly to religious schools for renovating and constructing buildings. The move, which is popular with Republicans who have a supermajority in both chambers of the Ohio Legislature, is “nearly unprecedented in modern U.S. history” and may be the “next frontier” in states’ growing efforts to increase public funding of religious schools, reported ProPublica.
Now, AU has requested records from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management as part of its investigation into this new frontier in state funding for sectarian education.
AU attorneys warned Ohio’s earmarks of One Time Strategic Community Investment Fund grants for facilities of religious schools violates the religious freedom protections in both the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions by forcing taxpayers to support religious instruction. AU is urging the state to terminate the grants and refrain from distributing public money to religious schools or to restrict the use of the grants to facilities where religious instruction or activity will not occur.
Rachel Laser
“The separation of church and state guaranteed in our Constitution means we each get to decide if, when and how to engage with religion,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United. “This protects both taxpayers’ religious freedom and the sanctity of religion. By forcing taxpayers to fund the buildings of private religious schools, Ohio is obliterating that promise of religious freedom.”
She declared the Ohio scheme “is all part of the Christian nationalist playbook for undermining our public education system: Divert public money to private religious schools while imposing their religious beliefs on public schoolchildren. Rather than funding private religious schools that can discriminate and indoctrinate, Ohio should focus on providing adequate resources to public schools that welcome and serve all families. Public funds belong in public schools.”
For decades, conservatives have promoted government-funded vouchers to enable parents to pull their children out of public schools and send them to tuition-driven private schools, including religious schools. These efforts have met with mixed results, but 29 states now have some kind of tuition voucher program today.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 2002 case — Zelman v. Simmons-Harris — that voucher programs are constitutional when public funds go to families who decide where to use the vouchers.
AU says Ohio’s new program is different because funds never pass through families. Instead, public money goes directly to private religious schools selected by the state Legislature.
At least eight Ohio schools have received grant money under the new program: Bellefontaine Calvary Christian School, Cornerstone Community School, Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Academy and Preschool, Mansfield Christian School, St. Edward High School, St. Mary School, Temple Christian School, Victory Christian School.
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