Billions In Public Money Now Go To Religious Schools

The attempt to turn the US in to a theocracy in red states run by republicans is being done by a minority of a minority.  The reason they have the legislative power they do is they have gerrymandered and used voter suppression to get only their supporters into power.  Churches which pay no taxes fund the campaigns of people who will give the churches more power and tax payer money.  Churches pay no taxes, the pay no property tax on housing for clergy and many other tax free give a ways.  Yet they are constantly demanding a share of the ever shrinking tax payer funds.  They don’t add to the treasury but they want some of it.   Why because they are greedy, but their numbers are shrinking, less butts in pews means less money in collection plates.  That was their real beef with the Covid restrictions, they were losing money.  So by forcing kids to see and learn religious stuff they hope to reverse the trend and get more people back to church.  Some of them want to force people to attend at least one religious service a week.  Democracy and the freedom from religion is being attacked hard, we need to defend them just as hard.  Plus private schools get to be choosy in who the accept, so they can’t be openly racist and bigoted, they also get to refuse admission to kids that are difficult to teach or have specials needs.   Hugs.  Scottie

June 9, 2024 Christianists, Education

 

The Washington Post reports:

Billions in taxpayer dollars are being used to pay tuition at religious schools throughout the country, as state voucher programs expand dramatically and the line separating public education and religion fades.

School vouchers can be used at almost any private school, but the vast majority of the money is being directed to religious schools, according to a Washington Post examination of the nation’s largest voucher programs.

In Florida, several programs combine to make every student in the state eligible for vouchers, with more than 400,000 participating this year. At least 82 percent of students attend religious schools, The Post found. Florida is first in the nation in both the number of enrolled students and total cost of the voucher program — more than $3 billion this year

Read the full article.

The linked piece notes that much of the voucher money is going to families that would pay or already are paying for private or religious schools themselves.