I am opposed to school vouchers for a number of reasons.
First, I am opposed for financial reasons. The Texas Legislative Board reports that the cost of vouchers as currently being considered in the Texas Legislature will increase from $1 billion in 2027 to $3.75 billion in 2030. That’s much higher than the supporters of vouchers predict.
The Legislative Board also says vouchers would cause an $11 billion negative effect on general revenue funds in Texas over four years.
Legislative supporters of vouchers say they would not take money from public schools. But simple math proves them wrong. Public schools receive $6,160 in state funding per student — an amount unchanged since 2019. If a school district loses 200 students to private schools in its district, that public school will lose $616,000. How is that not a loss?
Bill Bruster
Second, I oppose vouchers for freedom reasons. Accepting government money will strengthen the government’s control of private schools that accept vouchers. There is no such thing as free money.
If a private school builds new buildings because of increased voucher-subsidized enrollment, and the school decides to practice DEI or decides to teach Critical Race Theory, the state will pull the money. What happens to the school’s mortgage payment?
But the primary reason I am opposed to vouchers is a religious one. I am a retired pastor and I love the nation, but I love the church a whole lot more.
A few years ago, I did a pulpit exchange with Andy Baker, pastor of Downton Baptist Church in Downton, England. One Sunday a Sunday school class was saying goodbye to a soldier family who were being transferred back to the States. An English mother asked, “What are you going to miss most about England”?
The American mother replied, “I am going to miss my children having a Bible verse read to them and then having prayer in the classroom each morning.”
The English woman replied, “That is absolutely the worst thing about our school system. We cannot enlist unchurched parents because they rationalize that their children receive all the religious training they need at school.”
The almost empty church buildings in England attest to that testimony.
I recently read Samuel Perry’s excellent new book, Religion for Realists. He teaches sociology at the University of Oklahoma. In the last chapter, he writes there is no country in the world where the government endorses religion where religion is not diminished.
I have a Ph.D. in church history. I set out to prove him wrong. I failed. It is very evident in countries where there is a state-sponsored religion (as in all of Europe) that religion is diminished.
“Religion does best where there is freedom from the state.”
I thought of Poland, which has the highest percentage of its population in church on the weekend, of any other country. But people are attracted to church there because of the popularity of Pope John Paul III, not because of the government.
I thought of Islamic countries. But Perry says the vitality and interest in Islam is being diminished because of government support.
Think about it. If a government supports religion and a person does not like the government, they most likely will not support the religion the government supports. In America, if one party supports religion, that religion likely will lose the support of people who oppose that party.
When religion and government start sleeping together, religion usually gets assaulted.
After reading Perry’s book I began to think about Philip Jenkin’s book The Coming Christendom. In this well-researched book, Jenkins points out the places where Christianity is growing — South America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. I don’t know of a single government in any of those areas where the government is fostering religion.
Religion does best where there is freedom from the state.
I am not opposed to private schools. My three grandchildren went to private schools. Between 60% and 70% of private schools in Texas are religious schools. If the Texas Legislature funds these schools, they will be funding religion and thus will eventually diminish religion.
I do not believe that is the motive of our legislators. But I do think they are misinformed about the consequences of their actions.
Bill Bruster is a retired pastor of multiple Southern Baptist churches, the last of which was First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. He was instrumental in launching the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and spent the latter part of his career as a field coordinator for CBF. He lives in Dallas, where he is a member of Wilshire Baptist Church and serves on the board of Gaston Christian Center.
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