Voters in Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska rejected taxpayer-supported voucher programs for private schools. The 2024 “no” votes may represent the most significant speed bump for “school freedom” since the movement launched in 1990. Red-state legislators support vouchers, which remain unpopular…
Pastors gear up to battle bequest of vouchers for children in private schools
As the governor and top lawmakers in Texas make a fresh push to divert public education money to private schools, a group of faith leaders is advocating against the move, based on their religious beliefs. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who…
Biden Education Department hopes to reverse last-minute Trump allowance of campus discrimination based on religious beliefs
The U.S. Department of Education announced Aug. 19 that it anticipates rescinding parts of a rule enacted by the Trump administration that forces universities to financially support religious student groups that discriminate. This November 2020 reinterpretation of the Free Inquiry Rule…
The new secretary of education should listen to our teachers
Much of a pastor’s ministry happens in “behind-the-scenes” moments of pastoral care, and much of that care involves deep listening. Listening carefully and intently is a learned skill for many extroverted pastors like myself. But, especially in this moment of…
Trump executive order diverts federal funds to private school vouchers under cover of COVID-19
What the Trump Administration Department of Education has been unable to do legally through normal means in four years, it has now attempted to do in the last days of the administration through an executive order related to COVID-19. On…
What will happen in public education with a Biden administration?
With the impending change of administrations in Washington, public education advocates across the country have taken to social media to express their joy in the inevitable departure of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education. As one of the most consistently…
Americans United proposes 10 ways for Biden administration to reset church-state separation
As a new administration comes to Washington, a fundamental restatement of church-state separation should become a top priority, according to officials with Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “The Trump administration’s misuse of religious freedom to harm others…
Deconstructing the crisis of Christian colleges and the culture wars
In one of her first public appearances as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos delivered a speech at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference and established herself as a fixture in the culture wars. Her brief remarks began with swipes at…
Federal judge flunks DeVos effort to divert relief funds to private schools
For the third time in two weeks, an attempt by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to divert federal coronavirus relief funds from public schools to private schools has been stopped by court order. Federal District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich…