There are experiences which have made an impression that I not only will never forget, but which I can see as having a strong impact on my own personal philosophy of education as I have applied it to my classroom teaching in Christian schools, and during the past 18 years of serving in Christian school administration.
Fellow Southwestern Seminary alumnus Dr. Voddie Baucham, who is also a Christian school educator, pastor, author and missionary, articulated a philosophy of Christian school education that has stuck with me since I first heard him say it, "We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans." The same thing can be said when taking money from Caesar to fund education. It does not come without strings attached that benefits its own interests.
Christian School Independence and Autonomy is Theologically Based and Biblically Defined
Let's establish some core, biblically supported principles first, so that what we stand on isn't affected by the winds of expedience, but is built on core values.
It was the Baptists, the tradition in which I grew up, whose beliefs that the local church was the body of Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, and should not be under the control of the state with regard to its matters of conscience, which included calling its own pastors, who did not need the sanction, or ordination, of state magistrates, and for conducting their own worship services and church gatherings as the body of Christ. Nor did they require the guidance of the state, nor of any ecclesiastical authority outside that of the local body of Christ itself in determining their theology, doctrine and practice. Their influence persuaded both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who observed their faith practice in different settings, and not only resulted in the first amendment guarantee of religious liberty as a matter of protected free conscience, but also in the establishment clause, which separates the institutional church from the sanction and control of the state.
This resulted in one of the most significant spiritual revivals in American history. Christianity prospered here, and enabled a missionary movement which caused it to spread from here, in a ways that it had never been able to prosper under the control of monarchies and political authority.
What that means for us, as an educational institution which derives its mission and purpose from the biblical church function of discipleship, is that we are free to determine our own educational mission and purpose, integrating the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, and the principles of the gospel into the curriculum that we teach to our children, with the added benefit that they are able to learn the life skills that education provides in a Christian context.
This is in contrast to the education "Caesar"--the analogy we use for public education--provides, which doesn't acknowledge the existence of God, and that changes their whole approach to the education of the children and youth in our society. It's difficult for church ministry to fill in the vacuum that is created by an educational philosophy which teaches that human intellect is the highest power in the universe. But that's exactly why Christian schools exist.
Threats to the Independence and Autonomy of Christian Schools
About three decades ago, a group of Christian colleges and universities struggled with whether or not to accept students who paid tuition with grants issued by the federal government. The grants, initially known as Basic Educational Opportunity Grants, paid tuition and fees for as many as 80% of the students on any given college or university campus. The grants were based on student income qualification, and were convenient since most students, when they turned 18, could get off their parent's tax return as a dependent, and qualify to get 100% of the grant.
Private, Christian colleges could take the grants because they were considered direct aid to students, not to the schools that received them. However, as happens in most situations like this, the political demand for more accountability, to make sure dollars were not being wasted, entered the picture. The grants were funded by public money, therefore, the courts ruled that the federal government had the right to impose rules and regulations, mainly in the form of academic standards, that schools which accepted BEOG money had to meet. One of those things was to mandate that students could not use BEOG money if they were pursuing a degree exclusively in some field of religious studies. Nor could schools restrict the admission of a student who qualified for a BEOG on any religious affiliation grounds.
For most Christian colleges and universities, this was not a problem. They simply shifted more of their in-house and endowed scholarship money to students pursuing Biblical studies or ministry degrees to make those programs accessible and affordable to students pursuing that kind of degree. However, schools like Hillsdale College, Grove City College, Bob Jones University, and Pensacola Christian College, among others, where Biblical studies were required as at least a minor along with any other degree program, the rulings presented a problem. If students could not use BEOG money to pursue a religious-based course of studies, then the schools would either have to change their requirements, or figure out a different way of funding their programs.
They chose to remain independent and autonomous. And God blessed them for following their conscience. If you believe in something strongly enough, it will become a priority for your contributions and your resources. These schools have been able to maintain their programs and their operations without BEOG money, and subsequently, without any college level government assistance program.
I'm a firm believer in and supporter of the first amendment as a guarantee of religious liberty. I understand, when Christian ministries provide services to the public at large as a means of outreach and of expressing the core value of "loving our neighbor as we love ourselves," and ministry in the name of Jesus, in places like hospitals and schools, where we encounter the public, there will be some crossover in ways that services are provided, along with who pays for them.
Protecting the Independence and Autonomy of Schools Involves Distinguishing Between Direct Funding vs. Program Administration
After almost two decades of trying different ways to help middle income parents with Christian school affordability, two distinct methods of assistance have grown out of the trial and error. Initially, some form of voucher program, where parents could directly qualify by income and draw from an account funded by tax dollars designated to the state's education fund and then use those funds to pay tuition and fees at the Christian school of their choice. Theoretically, the parents are responsible and accountable for the funds, not the school, so initial court decisions surrounding vouchers protected schools from government interference.
However, accountability demands being what they are, the courts have determined that there are some uniform standards which parents must follow if they are going to receive a voucher for their children to go to a religious-based school. Most states now require voucher recipients to attend accredited schools, rather than those who don't seek accreditation. And voucher amounts, which are determined by the dollar amount received, per student per year, from the state educational fund in the school district where the private school is located. For example, in one particular school district in Indiana, the annual, per-student, per-year amount of state and local funding is $5,700. So the voucher amounts, which must cover tuition, books and all other fees, are limited to $5,700. Schools may not charge voucher recipients more than the value of the voucher.
In three upper-midwest states where there is some kind of voucher program based on family income, all textbooks and school materials must be purchased from state-approved vendors. This means that the Christian textbook publishers are out, and schools must either find other money to provide textbooks from those publishers, or they cannot use those materials.
If We Believe in the Mission and Purpose of Christian Schools, Then Our Money and Resources Should Support Them, Not Caesar's Money and Resources
The other kind of assistance comes from tax credit scholarships. This is my personal preference for several reasons. One, all of the funds are contributed. I strongly believe that if we understand the mission and purpose of a Christian school, and we believe in it, then we should sacrifice to support it and not expect "Caesar" to pay the bills, unless we want "Caesar" to have a say in what we do. A tax credit scholarship involves no public funds. Tax credits, in amounts adjusted to percentages of the contribution made, are given to the contributors. So the money comes from people who believe in, and want to support, Christian school education. That's the way it should be.
Two, the scholarship amounts are based solely on a family's financial need, based on the percentage of their income over the poverty level. This means that a family of four, with two children in private Christian school can get a sizeable scholarship, even if they make $80,000 a year. The scholarships are equalizers, making what cost there is to the parents affordable.
Not a single penny of public funding which goes to public schools is touched by a tax credit program. Vouchers, on the other hand, come from money designated to education, including public schools. So while vouchers have some technicalities that are questionable with regard to the first amendment, tax credits do not. Tax credits are used by government at every level to incentivize hundreds of different kinds of projects, mainly business development or urban renewal projects. And they protect the independence and autonomy of Christian schools from government intrusion.
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