By Ken Smitherman, Former President ACSI (retired 2009)
On June 27, 2002, the United States Supreme Court declared in a landmark ruling that the school voucher program is constitutional and does not constitute the establishment of religion. The Court maintained that the majority finding does not put the government in the unconstitutional position of sponsoring religious indoctrination.
The ruling must awaken the hearts and minds of Christian school leaders across the nation. The news of this decision generated varied responses. Nonetheless, the fundamental question is, How should this high court decision impact my thinking and decisions as a Christian school leader? I believe that every leader needs to wrestle with this question.
For a significant number of Christian school leaders, whether administrators or board members, the matter of vouchers has been a closed issue. The thought has been, We do not accept government funding and never will—end of discussion.
Across the United States, ACSI member schools enroll one to one and a half percent of the nation’s K–12 school children. With a few exceptions these approximately 600,000 students attend Christian schools through tuition payments made by their parents. But there are undoubtedly millions more who are deprived of such an education because their parents lack the financial resources to make it possible. What is the answer for them?
Do we as leaders in one of the most important Christian movements in the world have a responsibility to poor and deprived children in need of quality education? That question hardly requires debate since we are charged throughout the Old and New Testaments with great responsibility regarding those in need. For example, in James 1:27 we are told, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…." Is Christian schooling exempted from this charge? Have we defined Christian schooling as a privilege that should include only Christian children from Christian homes—and only if the family can afford it?
Among Christian school leaders, the most prevalent argument against vouchers relates to the fear of government control if Christian schools become involved in even the least amount of government funding. Fear can become our best friend or our worst enemy. I believe fear is often healthy. It causes us to ask more questions, to explore more options, to take more preemptive actions—the list could go on. However, fear in and of itself should not be the sole basis for any decision.
Regardless of whether we fear the use of government-funded vouchers, it is generally believed that the issue is not a matter of if but when. This Supreme Court ruling did not all of a sudden make vouchers available. It did, however, knock a huge hole in a seemingly impenetrable wall by declaring that providing government-funded vouchers that can be redeemed at religious schools is not unconstitutional.
So what are we going to do about it? Will we use this decision as an opportunity to advance the cause of Christian schooling for the economically poor of this nation, or will we treat the matter as something we simply do not discuss?
It is amazing how Moses’ mother obtained a salaried position in the royal court of a hostile government to nurture and educate her natural son who had been adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Maybe she figured out something we ought to consider.
President's Desk: Fear or Opportunity 6.2