The Orlando Sentinel’s School Zone blog took notice of the voucher-accepting-private-schools-that-teach-creationism mess that I posted about before.
The end of the post notes:
Of course, this is not a new issue, as colleague Dave Weber noted the issue in stories here and here about the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program. That program pays for poor children to attend private schools, many of which are religious.
State officials have argued that with that program, the state isn’t directly paying for the religious education. They say that because the scholarship program is funded by corporate donations that companies give in exchange for state tax credits, not by a direct payout from the state treasury.
My opinion is that true, it’s not right out of the state treasury, but that particular scholarship program is just a way to game the system so that voucher supporters can point at the state treasury and say “see, the money isn’t coming from there” in an effort to distract people from seeing the money slipping out through the trap door under the carpet. The corporations get tax credits. Isn’t that tax money that would have gone into the state treasury if not for the program? If I’m wrong, then please correct me, and I mean that sincerely. Am I missing something?
And let’s not let talk of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship distract us from remembering that there is another voucher program in the state, the McKay Scholarship program. You’ll find the creationist private schools on its qualified list.
This sounds just like the law we have on the books in GA. Ours has redirected $170M out of state revenue and in to private Christian schools that teach creationism, revisionist American history, that promote anti-gay bigotry and so on. Here’s more about our issue for those interested:
http://southernhumanist.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/georgias-tax-payers-subsidize-anti-gay-bigotry/
Southern Humanist
The similarities between your concerns and those with other beliefs is striking. Your opposition to using your tax payer dollars to support what you find unacceptable is certainly justifiable. Being forced to support something you detest is just plan wrong. However, millions do it everyday.
The caption to your post reads, “Georgia’s taxpayers subsidize anti-gay bigotry.”
The same premise might be used for believes other than religious humanists, for instance, “Georgia’s taxpayers subsidize anti-Christ bigotry.” This condition exists throughout the country in public schools, not just Georgia. Many parents, including myself, have been stuck with paying school tax and paying the full ticket for private school tuition. Your world view and mine are considerably different, neither one of us should be forced to support the other.
Teaching kids how to think is a whole lot different from teaching them what to think . If atheist propaganda and religious humanist doctrines were removed from the public school system, concerned parents might feel less disgusted with public education. If our public schools returned to education instead of indoctrination private schools would go out of business.
Go to the website of the Mega-Church Christ Fellowship and browse sermon archives. Search for sermons by Tom Mullins. Watch the video called One Truth Part 1 Creation vs Evolution.
Listen to what this guy says about Hitler and Darwin!
These Mega churches have a profound impact on their communities and influence parents with the crap they spew from the pulpit.