Thursday, March 14, 2019

Funding to Religious Schools by Bethany F.

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2019-03-11/devos-feds-can-give-funds-to-religious-education-groups


The Trump administration has put much emphasis on preserving and expanding religious freedoms. Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary, has made it clear that she plans to loosen the regulations regarding federal funding and grants toward private, religious learning institutions. DeVos vows to no longer uphold the Elementary and Secondary Educations Act provisions which previously prohibited such spending. This declaration comes after the Supreme Court ruling of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia Inc. v Comer in which the court ruled that denying grants for playground resurfacing to churches/other religious groups is unconstitutional. 

 DeVos and her supporters see these provisions as religious discrimination and believe that they are deterring schools from their rights to free exercise of religion guaranteed in the 1st Amendment. Critics say however that these changes would violate the Establishment clause also listed in the 1st Amendment. Democrats and Republicans alike are likely to debate the legality and constitutionality of this act and its new proposed revisions. 

Do you think easing the laws that create distinctions between the church and the state is a good idea? Do you think this is good news for education and educators nationwide or do you think that this crosses a line? With this new rule in place, will the Establishment clause be violated? Without the changes, is the Free Exercise clause being violated?

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 15, 2019 at 11:17 AM

    I feel that easing restrictions could potentially cause issues in regards to the Establishment Clause. While I don't have a strong stance on this issue, I feel that it will cause a firestorm of debate and disagreement. Religion and politics has always been a slippery slope. Any laws or restrictions that draw the line between church and state have always been controversial. Because of that, I feel it would be best to just leave it as it is. Removing restrictions will just cause more unnecessary conflict.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 15, 2019 at 1:20 PM

    I think that this is a good idea. I agree that this will cause some disagreement, but I don't think that this goes against the Establishment Clause. The parents have a choice to send their children to religion based schools, which means that no one is forced to be at the school. I think that this is good news. I believe that religion based schools have been underfunded for some time. They don't violate the Establishment Clause. I don't think that the Free Exercise Clause is being violated without the changes.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 15, 2019 at 10:43 PM

    I don’t think this is a good idea at all. This crosses the line because the government should not be endorsing certain types of religion. At the age of most students, they haven’t been able to establish their own ideas of religion and it shouldn’t be involved in their education.

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