The Religious Right and GOP Escalate Battle to Destroy Public Schools

By Joseph L. Conn, Church & State Magazine
Posted on June 5, 2011, Printed on June 6, 2011

America’s public school system and the constitutional separation of church and state are under relentless assault.

In late April, the Indiana legislature approved House Bill 1003, a measure that broadly funds religious and other private schools. The multi-million-dollar program sets up a new school voucher scheme, expands a tax credit program and offers tax deductions for the costs of private education and homeschooling.

Gov. Mitch Daniels was a chief promoter of the package, and he clearly means to force taxpayers to fund religious education. He is the founder and driving force behind The Oaks Academy, a “Christ-centered” private school in Indianapolis. Daniels sometimes poses as a moderate, but his education plan is anything but.

Make no mistake. This is not about “education reform.” This is part of a national drive to radically privatize education. Indiana is just one of many states where mega-bucks foundations and sectarian interest groups are demanding taxpayer dollars for parochial and other private schools. Their long-term goal is to shut down the public school system or leave it so damaged that its role in American life is minimal.