AUGUSTA, Maine — Bills on school choice and government funding of private, religious schools that are part of Gov. Paul LePage’s education package proved to be controversial for the public, which had its first chance to comment on the measures Thursday.
One bill proposes an open enrollment program, in which schools can decide to become “schools of choice” and accept students from outside their districts. Students and families could enroll their students in these “schools of choice” without needing permission from the district in which they reside.
The second bill removes a sentence from current state law that says public dollars cannot be used to fund private, religious schools. Currently any students can attend a religious school, but they must pay tuition.
Opponents, including several high school students, told lawmakers on the Legislature’s Education Committee the school choice proposal would hurt public schools, particularly those in rural Maine and could lead to some closing as state aid is shifted from public to private schools.
“Instead of focusing on allowing people to choose one school they like over another, we should make sure that every school is good and has the funding it needs to provide students with a quality education,” said Nash Roy, a senior at Hermon High School.
Chris Galgay, president of the Maine Education Association, argued the measure would have a particularly adverse effect on small, rural school districts.
“Maine already has a school choice law,” he said. “Parents can go and request a child attend another public school in the state, and if the superintendent does not agree, the parents can appeal to the commissioner.”
Galgay said the current law is working well and suggested the options it allows should be more broadly advertised so that parents know they exist.
Jennifer Murray and her daughter Emma from East Millinocket supported the legislation. Murray said she home-schools her daughter because the local school is not providing her the education she needs.
“School choice would force schools to compete,” Murray said, “and those that can’t close, [and] maybe they should.”
Carl Stasio, headmaster at Thornton Academy in Saco, said school choice works. Thornton is a private school that serves 1,300 public school students mostly from Saco, Dayton and Arundel.
“We accept students from wherever they come from,” he said. “We are school choice.”
“School choice is a complex issue,” Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen told members of the legislature’s Education Committee. “We believe the bill before you does expand options for students that are manageable and fair.”
Bowen stressed the first measure sets up an option for schools and does not require that schools participate. He said it is part of Gov. LePage’s effort to make schools more responsive to individual children.
“This is one step closer to providing a few more options for kids in the hope that one of them is going to be a great fit for that student,” he said. “And, to put an end to the way that a student’s physical address determines the educational options to which they have access.”
The second measure would allow religious schools to get public funds to pay for all or part of a student’s tuition at the school. Bowen was peppered with questions from committee members who were concerned the measure violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
“School funding laws in which parents direct the actions of the government entity — in other words it is the parent, not the government agency that directs the public funding to the religious school — do not violate the establishment clause of the Constitution,” Bowen said.
But opponents argued the language in current law has served the state well. Public funds should not be provided to religious schools, they said, not only because of the constitutional question, but also because it is bad public policy that will take resources away from public schools.
“This would not provide the same choice for students with disabilities that it would other students,” said Jill Adams, executive director of the Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities.
She argued true choice would be if all students, regardless of need, could get all of their educational needs met.
Testimony on the bills stretched well into the evening. Both bills will be discussed by the committee before going to the full Legislature for consideration.
On the Web: LD 1854, An Act to Remove Inequity in Student Access to Certain Schools and LD 1866, An Act to Expand Educational Opportunities for Maine Students.
If you were a parent of a child in a private school and all of a sudden there were students from public schools comming to that institution where you have been paying tuition, wouldn’t you want the state to reimburse you for your tuition?
Fix the problems of the problem schools. Identify what, who, where the problems are. Find workable solutions to these problems. Implement these solutions.
Resentment is a lame excuse to avoid progress.
Resentment???? Progress???? What the hell are you talking about?????
WOW, calm down! You did write: “If you were a parent of a child in a private school and all of a sudden
there were students from public schools comming to that institution
where you have been paying tuition, wouldn’t you want the state to
reimburse you for your tuition?”
You are suggesting that parents would RESENT the new policy because of the years they spent paying tuition. I simply don’t believe that’s an excuse to avoid new policies. Did I misunderstand you?
Can you follow the idea? If the state starts paying tuition to private schools, whose students are already living in this state, would not the state then be required to foot the bill for all those students also?
Do you need more clarrification?
Doesn’t your point apply to home schooling equally well, too ?
So yes, not only about that, but also how the State paying for an education
that teaches faith based “science” is going to change the Governah’s contention
that Maine workers are not well enough educated to attact new business to
the State, please.
So yes, please do show us your clarifications, sir.
Unfortunately, what will more than likely happen to avoid an influx of students potentially overcrowding the private schools, they will merely raise their tuition so that the same students will have access to private schools.
In other word just drain funds from public edcuation for no effective purpose, right ?
BTW, folks-it’s spelled ‘coming’- just sayin…
Great quote! And, yes, “itsaboutthestudent” is my id……
It already happens where private schools gets public money, remember that private schools are not all religious, John Bapst is private and refuses to accept children with special needs but gladly take the money from the sending towns, it is completely wrong for any private school to get public money, if you want the money then follow the rules that public schools follow and take the same tests they do, if not then only take students who pay the full tuition.
Bapst does take kids with special needs. There are many kids there with 504 plans.
Wrong. 504 kids are not connected to special ed. 504 kids have severe allergies or are diabetic etc. I think the author meant special needs as in down’s syndrom, severe behavioral issues etc. as connected to special ed. The two are worlds apart. Does Bapst take kids with severe behavioral issues like public schools?
You are wrong. My daughter with Asperger’s (Autism Spectrum) has a 504 plan. It isn’t just kids with allergies that have 504 plans!!!
If you read my post you will see that I didn’t say “just allergies”. My point is that 504 plans deal mostly with disabilities from a physical/medical perspective although ADD/ADHD kids are showing up more frequently. My point was that severe mental/behavioral issues are not in the same world as 504. You do not see these SPED students in private schools.
How come we are not to think this will just pay all of the religous shool’s students tution ?
1) How else could a law be written and maintain the princiople of equal protection under the law ?
2) The term “religous school ” naturally brings to mind Catholic schools which have a long history in Maine, and a proven record of proformance.
But I have to think that people really should be thinking in terms of “Christian Hertitage ” schools and asking about the academic record of and education that we can expect fundamentalist chruches to provide at the tax payer’s expense.
3) Will a Church that does not believe in evolution be paid by the State of Maine to “teach” their faith based “Biblical” science and have that called a proper education,
not only endorsed by, but paid for, by people of Maine ?
THEN , how does that suit the Govenah’s point that the Maine’s work forse is
not well enough educated to attact 21th Century businesses to Maine ?
You conservatives can’t have things two different ways at once,
and expect reasonable people respect your positions.
Sorry Charley.
Well said.The dumber people are,the higher the degree of religious indoctrination.Why do you think the CC is running around Uganda with the kill the gays bill which is funded by Americans?Obama needs to get the DOJ on this immediately.
So many benefits to this type of policy! It gives all students access to private education, not just those from wealthy families. It also requires school systems to compete for students. Just like in the “real world”, a high-performing school will attract more students than a poor-performing school. Survival of the fittest! Children aren’t cookie-cutters– though the current system assumes they are. Some kids need public school; some kids need private school. And don’t even TRY to argue that this violates the Establishment clause– the policy favors no religion over the other, as courts have already decided.
I count six faulty arguments in your comment.
Then enlighten us with your expertise…
if the private and religious schools are going to take public money they had better be ready to meet the guidelines of the Dept of Education, and will my school board have a say in the education of the kids from my town are being educated since they are using money from my community to educate those kids that want to go to another school?
The money being used is only “public money” because WE provide it. It is your money and my money funding these schools. All folk are asking through legislation like this is “a choice” in how to spend the educational tax dollar. And, if this means a little competition to bring all schools to a higher competitive standard, the student benefits in the end. Yes, some schools which lack vision and administrative prowess to adapt will suffer. But, these are likely underperforming schools already.
it is property tax money from MY community supporting a school in ANOTHER community. That money is being taken away from MY school and MY property taxes go up if the MY property taxes are used to support ANOTHER school.
What you are expressing here is only true IF you are convinced your local school district could not adapt/compete to retain and attract students. Your comment does not express a lot of confidence in your community’s school. You are paying substantial tax dollars for your school. Expect MORE from your district, not less. Support the school YOU believe in and help it improve. Then,even in a “School Choice” era, it will assuredly receive the funding it needs, but, based on demand for its quality product; an institution you can then surely be proud of, and, through which graduates will be better served.
It doesn’t really matter if his district competes or not. Some districts are going to gain students, some will remain flat, and some will lose students. The districts that gain students will spend all the money in their budgets. The districts that lose students will raise property taxes to meet expenses. No matter how you slice it, this is going to mean higher taxes for some Mainers.
What factors would cause some districts to gain students while others remain flat or lose students in a School Choice environment?
I want to see these private school’s plans to accomodate special needs kids with retardation, severe behavioral problems, mental illness etc. I want to see how they plan on meeting federal mandates regarding special education and the laws mandating (LRE) Least Restrictive Environment where behavioral kids are placed in regular education classes as a matter of law. I truly wonder if the private schools would want this money if they were held to the same standards as a public school. Everything being equal, I see this as a Pandora’s box for those schools. Unfortunately I see the private schools cherry-picking those students they want and rejecting the rest. I see this governor as cheer-leading this kind of assault on public school funding since the destruction of public education is obviously the real goal here. Someone, please, convince me I am wrong.
Just work as hard as you can against this travesty.
If you want to claim you’re the “fittest” to survive, then pay your own damn tuition.
I was referring to the schools… not myself?
I wasn’t referring to you specifically, but if you want to make the claim that the fittest will and ought to survive, then don’t be trying to make the argument for subsidized private education for these so-called “fittest” individuals. It’s not logically consistent.
The issue, for me, is about funding schools based on PERFORMANCE versus LOCATION. Simple as that. To me, it’s logical. To you, I guess not…
To me, pay for it yourself if you’re so fit.
You still don’t understand what I’m saying, but I won’t bother explaining again. Funny though that you attribute the best students with having money.
That’s why your logic is obviously inconsistent. You say “survival of the fittest” let the best students go to the best schools. How exactly is it survival of the fittest if we have to divert extra money to these best schools then? We have to subsidize their education? Is that an example of what it means to “survive” and be fit? Have others give you extra things and benefits?
What a joke.
No, we attribute money with the ability to pick the best school. That school can PAY more for teachers, has better technology, more access and better programs. THAT is why you hear money. Because that is REALITY. More money doesn’t make a bad school perfect, but it can sure help a good school become great.
No, this isn’t an opportunity for all Maine students. Have you read the bill? Parents have to supply the transportation for the student. Therefore, if you have two working parents who are up and out early, who will take you to the “perfect” school? Rural communities do not need this right now. We are struggling everyday to provide an exceptional education for our student. I can’t even believe you would use survival of the fittest? Perhaps because you are one of them? What about the students who are not? Who speaks for them? Time to think beyond yourself for a bit. You want real world? THAT IS REAL WORLD kid.
I should have the choice of where to send my kids to school. There’s no reason why I cannot have a say in how some of my tax dollars are spent on school choice and pick what works best for my family.
Well said, if the town you live in does not provide the best education for “your” child and you are willing to drive them to and from school then you should have that right. My kids have a Superintendents agreement but we only have it for one more year. I support this law completely.
then don’t whine when your taxes go up because money that would have gone to the local school goes to where you want to send your kid and the local school no longer has the funds to run. That’s what will happen with this….they will still have fixed expenses..heating, water etc. The number of kids that leave will probably not be enough to lay staff off so your labor expense will still be the same…this is a bad idea….
I tried 10 years ago for a superintendent agreement, and it fell thru. Red tape and the answer was NO. My kids have since then recieved private christian based education. The public school was unable and unwilling to meet the needs of my oldest daughter who was way behind due to being in special education. They moved her from 6th grade at one school to 7th grade at another and tested her. They said she had worked her way out of special ed by 1 point. In order to remain in the special ed classroom she needed to score a 20 or below she had a 21. They tossed her into the regular 7th grade setting with a 4th grade comprehension of any reading if that. She could read the words of any book, but comprehesion was extremely low. If we changed districts she would again qualify for special ed, but they wouldn’t let us. We had just purchased a house in this district and couldn’t afford to relocate. Therefore, we couldn’t stand to watch her fail after two quarters. When we asked who was going to teach our child? The answer was, I cannot lower my classroom curriculumn to meet the needs of your 1 child, she is years behind the rest of the children. Again I say, Who is going to teach my child????
The answer. Me the parent. I took control when they didn’t. I tutored her and enrolled her into private school. We took the steps necessary to catch her up. She is now in college and working at the same time.
I do not advocate that society needs to pay for special bussing. Parents need to do that. If the school we choose cost more then public education, then we should pay the difference. Except when the public school is unwilling to meet the childs needs. I feel the public school should’ve placed my daughter back in special ed or paid for her alternative education. However, today, I am glad that we were able to struggle and pay for the private education, because she became a strong, working and soon college educated individual that I don’t see happening in public school in a special education setting, as she spent most of her time playing teachers aid.
I don’t want any money of the taxpayers to go to private schools. Let the parents foot the entire bill
Remember that this is not just about private school–it also includes the freedom to choose an alternate public school that suits you childs needs.
And I should have a say about where my tax dollars are spent. And I’m not willing to see them spent on some religious education. My guess is that you are a big fan of religious schools, until ‘your tax money’ goes toward an Islamic, or an Atheist or a Wiccan school. Then I bet you start to have a problem. As long as it’s some Christian thing it’s all good, right?
I couldn’t have said it better myself!People need to watch out!
I would like you to point out where in my post I said anything about a religious school please. I really don’t have a problem where anybody sends their kids to school. It really should not be a one size fits all. There are some very good public schools and there are some very bad ones as well, same goes for private. I want what’s best for my kids either public or private and not a cookie cutter approach.
You already do. All you have to do is get a superintendent’s agreement and you may send your child elsewhere. This is only a thinly veiled attack on unions to privatize all schools. This is part of the national agenda of the republican party. This is a bill promoted by ALEC
why should my tax dollars go to pay for a child to attend a Catholic school or a Fundamentalist church school? I strongly disagree with their philosophies. Why any1 would send their child to a Catholic school after the abuse by priests is beyond me. What ever happened to separation of church and state? People can send their children wherever but they should pay for it. Also, when children attend a school where they are only exposed to 1 belief system, 1 culture, how do they learn tolerance? Children at the Catholic schools wear uniforms. Great way to stifle a child’s individuality.
You need to be on the School Committee.BRAVO(applause!)
The best thing that can happen for the students and taxpayers of Maine is for the MEA and its NEA union thug dominated minions to be extricated from the monopoly stranglehold it has on the public teat. Good for Commissioner Bowen and for Governor LePage for attempting real reforms!
It’s not our schools that are in need of repair it’s our society. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of other countries out there today that are whooping our butts academically. The one key element they have and we and our children don’t is “Aspirations” to learn utilizing just an ounce of self respect or respectfulness to the greater society that we all eventually must become part of. How does this big new “fix” to schools raise aspirations of the majority of our students? Not a heck of a lot. This plan is nothing short of a “Pile of Pandering” to those who want more educational success but aren’t prepared in any way to instill the aspirations that will be needed to make that happen. Outcome? Large scale dismantling of public education, untold damage to the majority of our children’s educations, and ultimately educational failure because we never addressed the root problem, us.
I have to agree. When I attend school board meetings, I am often one of 2 or 3 in the audience, not counting those who might have business before the board. Unless there is something controversial before the board, and then 100 “experts” turn up to have their say.
We have no kids in school anymore, but I still go several time/year. One reason, to see what tax money buys. When a proposal to close schools, build schools, etc. hits the paper, usually there is more to the story than the paper prints. Second reason, to show the school board that somebody cares. These people are often ridiculed when something big happens, but few people realize just how thankless the task of school board member is. Lots of times the meeting is spent on boring decisions to comply with state statutes. Reading and listening to this work is enough to put you to sleep, but somebody has to do it.
Yes, I know, some board members like to play to a camera and are only on the board to advance their agenda or use it as a stepping stone to other elected jobs. But many, many school board members are there to make sure the schools function as well as the constraints allow.
When Religious institutions enter the business world, they must follow all the laws that everyone else follows.
If they want to run a school with State dollars, they will have to use state approved curriculum.
If they want to run a religious school with Church dollars, they can follow a Church approved curriculum.
My children are exposed to music, art and foreign language beginning in Kindergarten. Other local public school students are not introduced to a foreign language until 5th grade. I don’t believe the “Church approved curriculum” (minus the religious education) will be a detriment to the state approved curriculum.
Go on line and review the private and religious shools in Maine. It is all open to public review. All of the schools charge a tuition that is substantially more than public schools spend per pupil. So either the parent of a student attending a religious or private school would have to subsidize the tuition or the State or local government would have to spend substanially more than presently being expended.
Either way the way the public schools and/or the general public loses.
Every pupil attending a religious or private school would represent a drain on funds being expended on public education further weakening our schools.
The other issue I found disturbing with existing religious and private schools is that they accept only the brightest of those who apply through a systematic set of tests and reccomendations. So yes they cherry pick contrary to what Mr LePage and crew would have us believe.
If allowed to go on this will lead to average or below students and those students of little means receiving a second rate education. The exact opposite of why our public schools were established for.
The primary way to succeed in this life is a good education. If we deny our children a good education we guarantee them no way to succeed.
Please legislators vote no on public funds going to private or religious schools.
My children attend a religious school, and to enter in Kindergarten did not have to compete for admission-there were no systematic set of tests and recommendations. I can not speak for other private schools, however. My family qualifies as a “little means” family, but a sacrifice worth making.
Public schools struggle for many reasons, and competition from private schools is not one of them. The teachers yell loudly and often that standardized tests and evaluations impede the education of students. There needs to be accountability-inept teachers need to be removed, great teachers rewarded.
If the biggest concern is that all of the high scoring students will leave your school district, perhaps your school district needs to improve and compete. Evaluating your weaknesses and strengths and adapting your behavior accordingly is not a bad plan for anyone receiving my money, or I will choose to spend my money elsewhere.
I don’t have a problem with you spending your money elsewhere. What I do have a problem with is granting you a pass on funding public education. It is your individual choice to send your children to a private school. It is not the public’s responsibility to subsidize your individual decision. If I decide I want to drive a Lexus, would you be willing to have your tax dollars support my decision?
you argue that all “entitlement ” programs are wrong. i agree.
“It is not the public’s responsibility to subsidize your individual decision”
Why should someone have to subsidize a system that yields atrocious results with only 4 of 5 students receiving a HS diploma. Your goal is to perpetuate an ineffective monopoly.
Private schools aren’t held accountable. Their students do not have to prove they are learning anything (which is good, because honestly, “god did it” is not an acceptable answer in the real world).
A public school education has taught you well how to waste words !
Yes, it is a waste of words to reason with people who are proud of not compromising.
I considered sending my son to a private religious school until someone I trusted told me a teacher had abused a child at that school but nothing ever came of it because the parents of the abused child wouldn’t let the child testify in a court of law.
Ask the hundreds of thousands of helpless children at Catholic schools worldwide who were put at risk by their parents.Shame on them!
They are accountable. If they do not perform parents simply pull their kids and send them to another school. Its known as having a choice. Obamacare will be the same as public education with there never being enough money and the unions fighting to grab what they can
That isn’t accountable in terms of providing an education. It is simply accountable to making parents feel good about the school they are sending the children to. In the realm of education, accountability is supposed to be about getting results.
considering the students the teachers have to put up with I would be yelling also.
Don’t forget that the state doesn’t pay for the full cost of the school in your town/district. While the state will give you some money for tuition, I doubt they will pay the full bill. They don’t in the school your children do now. You’ll be asking the taxpayers in your community to subsidize your child attending a private school. You don’t ask them to subsidize you if they attend a private college, subsidize you if you join a private golf club, but you want your fellow taxpayers to subsidize a private school twice. Once with the taxes they send to the state and again to the local taxes they pay. air? I think not!
we need to get rid of teachers unions, or change the way they are handled. There are too many bad teachers in public schools. The other, and perhaps bigger issue, is the fact that the federal government has imposed programs that are ineffective, cost too much money and have reduced the effectiveness of a process that should be completely handled at the local level. Like you said private schools are not the reasons for the failure of the public school system.
The union isn’t responsible for bad teachers. the union’s job is to defend a teacher when there is a complaint. the principal needs to do his job if there is a “bad teacher” and have his i’s dotted and T’s crossed if it goes to a hearing.
{ There needs to be accountability-inept teachers need to be removed, great teachers rewarded}
The bottom line is regardless if teachers are public or private the administration still has the right to evaluate the teachers performance.
How it is done is rightfully questionable.
Please dont respond and give me the line about Unions protecting bad teachers because the Unions are there to give the teachers representation against the good old boy system of picking friends /relatives / nepotism which equally protects incompetants.
I never have seen an icompetant manager who doesn’t surround himself with like minded incompetant friends and relatives.
Private or Public, a school is a school and they are both full of good and bad students and inept and accountable teachers.
Defunding the school system is the ONLY result of voucher schools!
When the money is gone so is the quality of education !
Please dont respond and give me the line about Unions protecting bad teachers because the Unions are there to give the teachers representation against the good old boy system of picking friends /relatives / nepotism which equally protects incompetants.
I truly appreciate the lack of comprehension and blatant lies you put into your posts.
Bashing unions again?
Perhaps the districts do need to improve! How is it that diluting the amount of money these schools operate with is going to bring about these changes? Just because there is hard work to do to fix the problems with public schools does not mean that abandoning them will provide a benefit. To the contrary, this will certainly create a divide. Those who have the means will pay to ship their kids to private schools on the backs of the taxpayers who do not have the means to do the same.
Providing the highest quality public schools is what we are tasked with. There is no place for public financing of private or religious schools. Sure you only need change a few words in Maine’s constitution to allow for this but that is hardly trivial. Consider if you changed just one word in the US constitution you might read, “We the (bankers, bishops, etc), in order to form a more perfect union….”
Please, spend your money as you see fit and do all you can for your kids; but for the love of God, do not try to take from the schools the rest of us are counting on.
I’ll bet you are already a member of the Church operating the school, too.
When they cherry picked my three kids they got quite the assortment! My oldest they got in the 7th grade reading at approx a 4th grade level. Comprehending everything she read at a 4th grade level. I think you need to take a tour and sit in on a classroom or two at Riverview Memorial School in Norridgewock. I can tell you they don’t cherrypick. They have a very large number of students that didn’t make it in public school due to behavioral and/or learning disabilities. They have my son who has a learnin disability. Then they have my other daughter that has skipped a grade and could skip more.
I agree parents should pay to offset any costs associated with addiional costs for sending their children to a private school. I do not mind paying for my children’s transportation nor do I mind paying the difference between public funding and private costs. The public schools have had all this time to get it right, and from what I have witnessed in my friends children, they haven’t even came close to hitting the target. Now, this is making them toe the mark thinking they may loose kids. This should tell the state something. Add competition and they will toe the mark.
So you think the state should take over funding all the students at your private school?
I think they should pay exactly what they pay for a public school student, no more no less. If it cost more for my private student, I will pay the difference, if less, then they won’t have as much to pay. I doubt I will ever see a dime of public funding at my school, because there will be strings attached and most Christian Schools won’t go for that. That is why they are private, they like going the extra mile.
Good, I am calling public works to get my money back from the plow truck , I have a snowmobile so you better start paying more to the town or get one yourself!
RESPONSE TO CountyBorn, Below:
Do you really know how much the State of Maine spends per pupil? What is the number? I suspect I can list numerous private and religious schools in Maine whose tuition is much less than the the State cost-per-student. And, even for those private schools that DO charge a higher tuition than the state expenditure per student, the real issue is, “let the parent decide” how to direct their educational tax dollars; even IF that means they have to pay an added premium for the school of their choice.
Further, it is easy to speculate possible negative outcomes to this “new” idea. However, statistics in other States have proven School Choice or “Tuitioning” to be a success. Furthermore, there are towns in Maine already whose government schools have been forced to improve their curriculums to compete with the quality of other local private schools. Win/Win situation for the student, I would say.
Finally, since when did we concede that only the government could provide the best education?
“Before joining the Department of Education, Commissioner Bowen directed
the Center for Education Excellence at the Maine Heritage Policy Center,
a Portland-based public policy think tank.”
I believe that says enough to discredit this guy, and any policy he and the MHPC propose.
I spent more time doing duties in my career than this man spent in the classroom and now he’s our ed commisioner?
Wow, I know a “few” families that were NOT given that option, when School district #50 was just that, School district #50…NOW, they decide to TRY to change this…seriously, like I stated before, this is a trickle effect of trying to control parents, students, and S A D’s before certain “voters’ decided that it was best to consolidate certain schools in the state….WOW, how I wish I had that option when my 11th grader HAD to attend another school due to the State’s unnecessary, absurd, and unfounded “consolidation”….PaLeeaseeeee! SPARE me the details…(again)
If a parent can afford to
send a child to private school (and what percent of tax dollars that we
pay, actually goes to schools) they can pay taxes like everone else.
The key word her is PRIVATE. I don’t care if its Catholic, Irish, or
KKK. PRIVATE means funded outside of the realm of the public. Does
this mean that any child who typically goes to public school can now
enroll in the private school and the tax payers pay their tuition? Give
and take, if you are going to take, you’ll have to give – say for every
1000 dollars of tax money, one student is given a FULL scholarship to
that school? Give and take.
I think they are right u should have the choice of school u want to go to and i agree with them it would give the schools a change to compete with each other and if they cant stay open then they must not be good enough and need to close. When my children moved from the elementary to the jr high its been a nightmare frm the start. I love the elementary school they went to and i think the high school will be nice too its the Jr High only thats the worst school ive ever seen. i know if i cud right now i wud get my girls out of the jr high school and get them in somewere that they can learn and not be constaintly picked at over stuiped stuff. not to mention some of the teachers that work there r childish and shouldnt even be teaching in any school. If we have that deal were you can request to send our children to another school how come u dont see it more because its a bunch of crap u have to go thru cause u know there isnt gonna b a superintendent thats gonna let the school attendence drop or have them look bad so they wouldnt allow it and by the time the commissioner gets it and it gets done the children would b out of school. I do agree that the teachers do not get paid well but some of them shouldnt get paid well cuz they arent teaching the students the way they should b they are too worried about how they look or what they are saying or who they are sitting by. look how many teachers are getting in trouble for child porno and stuff like that and i agree that the teachers all should be more educated like the governer mentioned and i think they should be better screened before being hired and as parents we are paying taxes in our town we should have a say who is hired and who isnt or atleast have the chance to if we choose too. i moved from a very small town because i wanted my children to have a better education then my stepsons had or even i had as they wouldve went to the same school as my stepsons went to and as my husband and i went to but i can tell u right now this school they are in now is a joke they are more worried bout what they are wearing and who their friends are then they are trying to give them a good education your school years r suppose to be fun and rememberable not miserable….. not to mention you could be a mile down the road from one district to another and if your not in the district you would like to send your kids to u cant and have to move to that district who wants to do that so if you have the option to send them were ever people wouldnt have to constaintly move or if people do move a mile down the road and still wanna keep their kids with their friends they should be able to as alot of people move around alot and not very far like those that live in apartments or places like that.
If Bowen is dumb enough to take this ‘public money for private school’ issue and try to make it policy he might as well resign now and save the State the trouble. This arguement was decided back in 1954 in Brown vs. Board of Education and the seperate but equal filing. Why Bowen wants to take a high dive into this long empty pool is beyond me but if the folks at the MHPC wanna’ foot the bill, fine by me. But this one is gonna cost the State more ways than they can even imagine. Do the kid’s deserve better ? No doubt they do. But it needs to be done using creative and never tried before idea’s, not re-run’s of idea’s that have been tried before and proven to fail. It also requires the realization that education has changed A LOT since we all went to school. That change needs to be included as a major part of the reform, not seen as a hazard to be avoided. Technology, hand’s on demonstration’s and teaching and training all play their part in education. But the educational system needs to realize that education is more than sitting at a desk or table and being lectured to. And that’s where the real educational reform needs to start.
If they aren’t going to do school choice they should at least force schools on CIPS plans to offer the choice the federal law says we, as parents, are entitled to chose for our children.
All for choice as you point out. But part of choice also includes telling your local School Board just why you are exercising the Choice option. Then at least the School Board is able to find out the big ‘WHY’ so many parent’s are using the Choice option and make the necessary adjustment’s, be it teacher’s, school administrator’s, funding direction’s or whatever is needed. That’s why it is so important for parents to get involved with the local School Board’s. Board’s won’t change unless someone stands up and starts the process !
This is a sneaky way to get more money paid to education by the tax payers, and less from the State. Don’t be fooled, the Governor knows what’s at stake – it’s your wallet.
The state currently funds 45% of the public education, a few years ago a peoples referendum voted to increase that funding by the state to 55%. Even though the people voted and the referendum passed, the state has reneged on that promise. Now LePudge wants to make war on public education. Can anyone connect the dots here?
Actually, the state only funds what they have determined necessary via EPS, not the actual cost.
No, I can’t connect the dots to this.
Businesses have jobs to offer, but Mainers don’t have the skills
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/11/13/business/many-jobs-in-maine-available-say-employers/
Can some GOTea sort please do so.
FYI, many, many of these Private Christian Schools believe more in seperation of church and state then most of you do. Therefore, I know alot of schools that will not be excepting the funding even if it does pass. I myself do not understand it. I would understand it if it meant that they wouldn’t be allowed to teach a bible class. IF you accept state money and can’t teach bible as part of your reading curriculumn then you wouldn’t be a Christian School would you? My children’s school is classroom taught with teachers, and they teach from normal text books, math, science, history, ect. They even have art class and gym. When they get out and go to college they pass their SAT’s wth high scores and get into good colleges, so I’d say they are teaching the right stuff. From what I have seen from their past graduates, it appears they are getting a tall job accomplished. I like to go by not high school graduation rates coming out of a school but college rates. How many kids that graduate from here graduate from college? What percentage? O.k. I’ll send my child there. It is not a choice that my children attend college it is an expectation.
People forget that those who send their children to private/religious schools and pay tuition are also paying taxes in their city/town to operate public schools. So, where is the problem with having these students receive help in tuition payments?
The education system in Maine gets its biggest chunk of cash from the people who pay property tax in the district. Some of those people never benefited at all from the school they are supporting, EXCEPT the fact that the physical plant is partially owned by them. This is not true with private or religious schools. I don’t mind investing in something I own. I sure don’t want to pay for something owned by a corporate or religious entity which has no connection to me at all.
Besides the non establishment clause of the US Constitution ….
Because in that scenario MY taxes are also being used to indoctrinate kids into religious mumbo jumbo instead of science and facts which they need to compete in the real world.
Keep your hand out of my pocket!
So parents will direct where the money goes for their children’s education according to Commissioner Bowen. Per pupil operating costs are somewhere near $10,000. Say Elmer Gantry opens the Elmer Gantry Bible Academy and can talk the parents of 15 students into sending their kids to his “school”. That’s $150,000. Take out some expense for a few books and some paper. I see a good business opportunity here. The parents direct the town to pay Elmer $150,000. Good to go!
Here’s another one. Say someone opens the Mahmoud Ahmedinajad Madrassa Academy and talks the parents of 15 students into sending their kids there instead of Smithville High School. Then they direct the $150,000 to go to MAMA. How are the locals going to react to $150,000 out of Smithville’s school budget going in that direction?
Gee Yeah, I want to go to that school where we get to play with bombs, guns, and learn how to fly, but not land, airplanes.
Harry, you would not like it.
You graduate as soon as you can recite the whole Koran, from memory.
LOL No I wouldn’t like it!!! Not much future after that fly thing!
Why does which church matter at all, exactly ?
So if we use tax dollars to educate students at catholic schools, let’s not hear any complaints about providing birth control pills to teachers, alright?
No, they’ll want the money and they’ll want their own way – just like the catholic hospitals and universities. They want it both ways. I ,for one, absolutely do not want my tax dollars going to private schools – be they montessori, catholic, evangelical. It is not right. There is separation of church and state in this country. We are a SECULAR country and religious schools should not get tax dollars. Period. You want to send your kid to a religious school, then you pay just like I paid when I sent my kid to a montessori school. I didn’t ask for help, nor should any one who sends their kids to private schools. Your choice, you pay.
Isn’t it ironic how loud they screech about “indoctrination” too?
No kidding.There is no bigger bunch of crybabies and thieves than the CC and evangelicals.They are the worst of America.
well maybe those catholic hospitals should stop taking federal and state insurances. You can’t have it both ways….good enough to provide health care at reduced costs to welfare programs but not good enough to provide education to families who chose to send their students there?
No state tax dollars for private k-12 schools in Maine. Public dollars should go to public schools only.
Public Charter schools will be opening this year. A virtual one is supposed to be up and running by Sept 1st. That will affect the # of students attending local public schools too, decreasing the subsidy for those local schools.
Private schools already get public tax dollars. Like Foxcroft academy and Washington Academy. Should we take funding away from those private schools?
I think private schools should be privately funded. How odd of me! Keep my tax dollars out of private schools. I do not understand this concept at all. I sent my daughter to a montessori school for part of her elementary years. No one’s tax dollars helped me out with that, nor should they have. If you want to send your child to private school, fund it yourself.
No tax dollars for private schools.
So you are against charter schools or think they are a good thing? and believe the state should open up afew new schools so that public tax dollars don’t go to the ‘academies’ like Lee, Foxcroft and Washington?
I’m for choice. With or without private schools being included. I want a choice in where my daughter attends school. It would be nice to have a virtual charter school, she could be home doing her lessons but if not I will transport her 8 miles to the next school, at least they don’t have a long history of bullying by teachers.
You HAVE a choice as to where your daughter attends school. More so than in many other states.
You can home school her.
You can petition for a change in her school from your district to another (so long as you pay transportation)
You can send her to private school. (at your cost)
I want a “choice” too. I want to chose to pay for public school, for the children of others, or not. That is unrealistic and will never happen UNLESS parents make the cost of education so expensive it causes a revolt.
Those of us who pay property taxes to cities and towns for education have been generous in the extreme. I support my local school with my taxes and even an occasional donation. I am proud of this school, and I feel I own a small piece of it.
I’m not pleased that some people do not appreciate my generosity, or the generosity of other property tax payers.
If you want better, I suggest you move to Beverly Hills, or buy your own education resource.
Just an FYI….I do home school one of my children and will add my other child in the fall to the home school curriculum. I pay dearly for it so she doesn’t have to deal with bullying by the teachers. The local school where I live supports teachers that bully students. They have an attendance problem because children are making themselves ill over having to go to school. Children are being put on strong anti-depressants to deal with the bullying by teachers. I do NOT want my tax dollars paying the salaries of teachers who treat kids that way.
A doctor reported to DHHS that she considered this abuse by the teacher a few months back. DHHS turned it over to the Dept of Ed who turned it over to the superintendent, who turned it over to the principal to investigate. Of course she found nothing going on. This isn’t one or two students but many (over 15) in a class of about 30.
I volunteer for different groups that benefit the schools, I donate as well. I’ve invested much to the area schools in time and money. I felt much like you do now that I had some ownership in this local school.
You never answered how you feel about charter schools. That law was passed last year and options will be coming by the beginning of school this year.
No, I do not believe in “charter” schools either. I believe that if fifteen students (they must have at least 15 parents too) are being mistreated in a single school, That those parents are duty bound to attend town meeting and make a case for change. then there is the State board, then the courts. If indeed students are being “bullied” (I really don’t know what that term means now-a-days) by the teacher other parents might want to know about this and together you can petition the district for a change in teachers.
I don’t for a minute believe that abandoning the other children in this school benefits ANYONE , particularly your children who will be sharing this world with the other children after you and I cease to exist!
They are not full on private schools…they are “academy” schools. They have a local town that sends and then they accept TUITION students from surrounding towns that are not locked into another district.
Great point !!!
And here I thought that the TeaParty hacks were against welfare. School choice is welfare for disgruntled parents.
And make no mistake about it, When you allow parents to remove their tax dollars from the pool that supports public education, it does not lessen the burden of the public school. They still have the same expenses and will need to raise more in taxes to offset the difference. That means that taxes that support public education will go up. Each taxpayer will be footing the bill for the difference to make up the shortfall caused by your personal choice.
If you want to send your child to a private school, pay for it yourself. My tax money, and yours as well, belong in the public trust.
Tax dollars should not be given to private or religious schools unless the Government, State and or Federal decide to remove the tax exemption from all churches and property!!!
That will never happen-but if it did the budget would have a huge surplus and the deadbeats would have to pay their way for a change for meddling in public policy.
These “reform” bills, written and presented by MHPC are a big step in accomplishing one big right-wing objective, killing public education. They want a totally private, for profit system ultimately.
hey, county, you are correct in this piece of your comment.
“The primary way to succeed in this life is a good education. If we deny
our children a good education we guarantee them no way to succeed. ”
so why do you insist that we leave our children no way to succeed? by allowing parents to decide where to send their children to school they will be more likely to get the needed education. do you think that only the government can provide for us?
BUT Bud, The Government is STILL providing for you. They take my money (I have no blood children) and give it to the school you choose for your children.
I’m perfectly OK with you sending your offspring to private school, religious or otherwise, that was my parents choice, BUT they paid full freight themselves. I would expect you to do the same, particularly given your attitude, expressed in your last sentence.
The private/religious schools in Maine have starting tuitions of $ 14,000 .00 not including the cost of books and transportation, many of them charge substantially more. The average operating costs per pupil K-12 for public education in Maine last year was $ 9,623.87 this includes the cost of books and transportation.
So if the parent decides to send their child to private/relgious school does the municipality pay the full amount or the 9,623.87 ? If they pay the full amount then you drive the cost of education sky high. If you pay only the 9.623.87 then the parent has to make up the difference. How many parents can afford this?
Most of the private / religious schools require that the students they accept pass entrance exams prior to their acceptance. Cherry picking.
So if we start supporting the private/religious schools you leave the those students unable to afford the additional cost of private/religious school and those students the private/religious schools will not accept in what be left of under funded public schools.
Public schools were started because only the privledged could afford an education. Do we really want to go back to this? Would our country be able to succeed with such a system?
Do not get me wrong I think we can do a lot to improve education. But I do not believe subsidizing private/religious schools is the answer.
Commissioner of Education Bowden came out of Maine Heritage Policy Center which has as a goal the elimination of public education. Connect the dots, folks!
We need school choice in this community!
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsArchive/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/20871/Default.aspx
This is nothing more than a longstanding scam for the religious crazies to get the taxpayers to pay for their schemes.Schools need to be public and secular across the board.If you want to indoctrinate your kids,YOU pay for it,not me!
I would have to argue that there is plenty on indoctrination going on in the public schools…. it may be indoctrinating of a different mentality and mind-set, but don’t kid yourselves. They also have other names for it such as “celebrating diversity” and “tolerance”….
It is pretty telling that you believe teaching children to respect each other is indoctrination.
I do not believe that teaching children respect is the same as indoctrination if they are taught to respect ALL views and not whatever is the “politically correct” view of the minute/hour/day. It is when (I know it is only some – and not all) people try to teach children that in order to show respect to others that they must disregard what they were taught or how they were raised, that it can become an issue in my book.
As long as you show the same level of “respect” to what some would call (and to quote from above) “the religious crazies” as you do to those who practice Islam, Hindu, or no religious preference at all… even if you don’t believe the way they do, then I am all for that form of respect. But when you try to pit people against each other just because they and you do not believe exactly the same, then your idea of respecting each other doesn’t hold much weight IMHO.
No, but some of us DO believe that is a parent’s job. Public schools were sold to the US citizenry as institutions where a child becomes literate, learns math, and gains the ancillary tools needed to become gainfully employed. That is why the issue of education was originally left to the States and local municipalities. Local children were educated to the level needed by employers in the area. Mostly girls were educated only to the 8th grade. It was expected that they would marry, and stay home. Some might feel this was “indoctrination” but it was a way of life accepted (at the time) by the vast majority of citizens.
Now we “socialize” children. We have included sex ed. diversity training, sensitivity, and a view of history which changes with the current P.C. fad.
We are no longer educating children “in the general best interest” because employers may be in China, India, or some other country which then gets the benefit of our tax dollars. My property tax dollars spent on education buy me NOTHING.
Public education and the way we fund it are anachronisms, from a time when our government put U.S. citizens in front of foreign interests.
Time to let parents pay the full cost of having children, including education. Then they can send their boys and girls to anyplace they choose…. or let them grow up ignorant. Reading some of these comments it appears that may already be happening.
Ignorance is the stock and trade of the politicians who want to privatize schools. 30 years of conservative led education reform have led us to where we are now. Now the same conservatives want us to agree to privatize a system that they have broken themselves. I ain’t buying it.
AND counter to Gov. LePage’s own education policies, too.
Like LePage has any coherent policies that weren’t spoon fed to him by the Koches.It’s readily apparent that he’s never had an original thought.Kind of like GWB Lite.
I’m just pointing that out and how even the Koch Bros. don’t,
unless they really are trying to dumb down America and destroy the middle class.
It is shocking how if you look at things with that discordant premise in mind,
at least you can find consistency in the conservative incoherence.
That is pretty much my point.
If you oppose this,go to ffrf.org(Freedom From Religion Foundation)Marvelous people doing great work.They need all the help they can get against this big money theft from Maine’s taxpayers.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Public money for religious schools represents “an establishment of religion.”
FALSE, sir. If public money was only allowed to be used for Catholic schools, then you could make an Establishment argument. The Establishment clause addresses both national religion and the favoring of one religion over another. And as the Supreme Court decided in 2002, voucher systems are NOT in violation of the Establishment clause because there is no favoring of one religion over another.
However, it *is* a favoring of religion over secular. Those tax dollars going to Catholic, Baptist, Jewish, Islamic schools are subtracted from public schools.
^Did you miss the point of my comment? The Supreme Court has already ruled on this. You can disagree all you want, but that doesn’t change the legality. It’s legal on two major counts: (1) Vouchers systems do not violate the Establishment clause because NO school is favored over another, (2) This is about parental choice, not government choice. The money, figuratively, sits in an account and is withdrawn by the parents. Citizens cannot violate the Establishment clause.
But the government can violate my rights by giving my tax money to a religious school, and the Supreme court has specifically DECLINED to rule on that, saying it is a State/ Municiple issue.
Just look at TX where the students are terribly served by the evangelical cabal.Is that what the rest of America wants or deserves?NO!
Or look at Pakistan where private religious schools teach hate, and intolerance. Oh gee, you folks thought all these “religious schools” would be Christian???
There are many Christian organizations, schools, churches in this country who teach hate and intolerance.
Even if they are all “christian ” schools, will the State pay schools to teach
children to hate American gays ?
If that’s what you think about Christian schools, you have a lot to learn.
You’re the one who has a lot to learn.
The main organizations leading the anti gay movement are Christian.
Hate to tell you, when I was growing up and going to the First Baptist Church we were indoctrinated that the Pope was the antichrist and all catholics were going to hell.; quite explicitly. This was the mentality that made me realize religon was simple superstitious nonsense and simply a way to control and manipulate large groups of people – pure feudalism! I don’t want my taxpayer dollars supporting feudalism or any religon.
First Baptist Church of what? I grew up in a Baptist church also, but it wasn’t anything like you’ve described.
Dam liberal !
YOU have a lot to learn.There’s a perfectly good reason Focus On The Family and those like it are listed as hate groups.
Where in a “christian” fundamentalist Biblical law and science school ?
It is too late indoctrinate me, I’ve read the US Constitution.
AND I am a graduate of a church operated school, too.
That’s why in MI they tried to pass a religious exemption about hate speech and bullying.There are no bigger racists than CC’s.
No difference between them and Perry’s well funded Dominionist crowd Wacko zealots.
There is a possible danger here that those whose children attend religious schools for religious reasons may want to consider. What happens when these religious schools become dependant on these public funds and later on down the line the government attaches certian conditions that conflict with those schools’ ideologies and beliefs? These public finds could end up being a Trojan horse. Pun inteneded.
Here’s a question:
When the priest, or minister sexually abuses a child in a religious school funded by taxpayers, will the State or the private institution be libel? Remember in the 1990’s this behavior by priests bankrupted several major Catholic archdioceses, including Boston’s
I guess I could support this if I could also pick and choose who represents me in the legislature–house and senate. I’ve got a couple of real underachievers here in my district (I really don’t like the job they’re doing) and I’m sure I could find someone outside the domain that would do a more efficient/accountable job of promoting my ideals.
And all of you should pay for that!
Privatize the government. discard the D.O.T., D.H.H.S., D.O.E., D.O.C.,The State Police, County Government and any other governmental agency. Put all the work these entities do out for private bid. Then elect (statewide) commissioners for each of these areas, and give them total autonomy over their individual budgets.
We wouldn’t need a Governor, Legislature, or all the State buildings and staff, because there would be nothing to coordinate. Then every two years we could reelect commissioners on the basis of how cheaply they ran their departments.
Taxes would be based solely on last years budget + inflation, All taxes would be drawn from a single source. If a private company wanted to open a school, so be it. Religious, secular, no matter, so long as it could be run at the “standard offer” price set by the duly elected Education Czar.
It seems to me that many people would like to have pure unadulterated capitalism considered.
This is it…
Big time WACO to that fascist rant.
“This is it…” the corporatist plan for America.
It is happening even as we write. At the Municipal, County, State, and Federal levels. Route 189 to Lubec used to be plowed by the D.O.T. employees. now it is done, far less well, by a private company. Our town used to elect assessors who actually assessed the town’s value. not (because of State regulations) that is impossible and we have private companies assessing our property. Often these private firms have ulterior motives in the valuation of property. Making people move is good business for real estate firms.
We pay administrative costs for 22 redundant “private” social service agencies in Machias. Agencies which don’t do the job as well as a single human service worker did it back in the 1970’s.
The list goes on, our taxes go up, and pretty soon no one except the very rich will own anything.
Public money should never be used for religious education – my tax dollars should not go to support institutions that espouse feudalistic superstitions or violate separation of church and state as this would do.
“Defunding the school system is the ONLY result of voucher schools!
When the money is gone so is the quality of education !”
Which is hard to believe is not their real agenda.
Prayer has been taken out of local schools because people didn’t want to combine religion and government… Know its o.k. to do so? This seems like it will create a mess — kids will have no choice but to go to private and/0r religious schools (schools that create and follow their own rules not the binding rules that a public institution must follow) the only kids that will be left in public schools will be those that don’t excel in the classroom or need extra help because you can bet private schools are not going to accept any kids that need extra assistance. Public schools will be left with kids needing extra help and will be left with not enough money to provide an appropriate education to those left in public schools.
LePage has given the keys to the state to those wingnuts at the MHPC. It’s like he’s in a race with Walker, Brewer, Scott, Daniels and Christie to see who is the craziest, most tea-stained Governor ever !
They’ll all be out of office soon.An R legislator in WI who was being badly beaten in her recall race just quit-just like Palin.Gutless.Now the leg. is tied 16-16.Walker’s done- LePage is next.
Did anyone ever think that kids going to private or religious schools might come from parents that are more involved in thier kids? Yes these kids do better in private schools. I would say kids that Ski are more likely to go to college .I think that is a fact. But dose sending your kids to ski lesson make them more likely to go to college. I do not believe so. I have nothing against religious schools . I do not believe religion makes a person more moral (it might make them think they are). I know in business I have a slightly higher risk of not being paid from pronounced Christians than people who do not discuss religion. Majority for them being decent. But you also get some that hide behind it.
It’s apparent that the current administration consists of a bunch of drooling idiots that want to drain money out of public education as fast as they can.
The question nobody is asking is why they want to do that? Statistics on the poor quality of charter schools, religious schools, voucher schools and virtual(internet) schools have been posted, printed, aired on radio and TV, blogged and commented upon ad nausea. They know what the facts are but they keep wanting to pour money into them. Why?
Drooling but well funded idiots.Scary combination.I will fight to make sure every dime of my taxes go to secular schools run by well paid respected teachers and staff.
How come the separation between church and state does not seem to matter when people want money.
MAYBE because separation between church and state isn’t a governing concept in this country.
It most certainly is. It’s in the Constitution, first amendment.
And yet it isn’t actually practiced. Hypocrisy!
Funny how the conservatives yapping about choice aren’t willing to give a woman her legally protected choice under Roe V.Wade.The usual double standard applies as always.
Perfect explanation: conservatives valued those children even when they were in the womb. that doesn’t end once the child is born. shocking to me that you’re comparing a person’s education to a supposedly last-resort method to preventing parenthood. sickening.
Really…where is their stance on public welfare and DHHS? Oh that’s right…my way or shut down schools. Of course…perfect logic.
Basically all of that state/government imposed testing is a sham. It’s a great way for testing companies like McGraw Hill to make millions. They sell the books and they produce the tests. If I as an English teacher teaches a kid something about 1066, but the history teacher doesn’t. And then if there is a test about 1066 and the kid gets the answer correct…Who gets the credit? The history teacher or me?
Government subsidizing religion in any way is wrong wrong wrong.
We already subsidize religion by not making churches pay taxes.Look up the GIGANTIC tax break given for a creation museum.Also look up Chuck Grassley’s attempt to open up books on big $ religious leaders with Learjets,etc.He got death threats and it was shut down right away.
I agree. They should be taxed.
Thanks.Due to the staggering wealth they have,we won’t see it.But anything that stops or slows their zealotry helps.
If my child enrolls in a private Christian school, where does the state educational subsidy for my child go? Does it still go to the district my child would be eligible to enroll in, or does it stay in the black hole of the state coffers?
I thought we had a separation of church and state?
if you are going to allow public funds to go to religious institutions then tax them.