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SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE UNDER ATTACK

Supreme Court Deals Blow to Separation of Church and State in Ruling for Taxpayer-Funded Private Religious Schools

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Taxpayer Programs that Fund Private Schools Must Fund Religious Schools Also

In a 5-4 ruling the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that taxpayers must fund religious schools, stating that excluding faith-based education is unconstitutional. The case is Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue.

Chief Justice John Roberts again was the swing vote, writing the majority opinion in siding with the conservative side of the court in this case.

The decision is expected to open the floodgates to religious schools, protecting and expanding all types of funding including vouchers and tax credits.

Legal expert, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern issues this warning:

He adds:

 

This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. 

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SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE UNDER ATTACK

DeVos Funneling Millions in Coronavirus Funds Meant for Low-Income Students to Wealthy Religious and Private Schools

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4 years ago

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May 15, 2020

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Private College With Website Debunking It Is a Cult Gets Nearly Half a Million Dollars

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has re-directed at least $180 million in coronavirus relief funds designated by Congress for low-income students and families to wealthy religious and private schools.

The New York Times reports the billionaire “school choice” advocate “has nearly depleted the funding set aside for struggling colleges to bolster small colleges — many of them private, religious or on the margins of higher education — regardless of need.”

In a stunning example, the Times reports “Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential, a private college that has a website debunking claims that it is a cult, received about $495,000.”

The Times adds that “DeVos has used $180 million to encourage states to create ‘microgrants’ that parents of elementary and secondary school students can use to pay for educational services, including private school tuition. She has directed school districts to share millions of dollars designated for low-income students with wealthy private schools.”

Ben Miller, a Center for American Progress vice president, says DeVos has given almost every private religious school across the country part of a nearly $350 million fund Congress appropriated to help colleges most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Almost 90% of the country’s special faith focused schools got extra money” from the fund, says Miller, who served as senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education.

A 2001 interview exposed DeVos’s religious obsession.

“Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s kingdom,” she said, according to Mother Jones.

 

 

 

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SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE UNDER ATTACK

Marco Rubio Righteously Scorned for Twisting His Bible Tweets Into an Attack on Democrats and a Defense of Trump

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4 years ago

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October 24, 2019

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“Nobody is asking you to light yourself on fire and commit suicide. We are asking you to uphold the laws you swore an oath to adhere to and protect.”

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) regularly tweets out Bible verses that surreptitiously support his views of the day. It is a curious take on separation of church and state. But the Roman Catholic lawmaker who also worships at a Southern Baptist church gave up all pretense on Thursday and used his religion to blast Democrats directly while trying to shield President Donald Trump.

In early September, for example, as Hurricane Dorian threatened lives in Florida, Sen. Rubio offered this verse:

And just yesterday, Rubio posted this heavy take:

But the two-term Florida Republican cut to the chase quickly Thursday, scolding Democrats for attacking Trump while saying no one except Jesus “deserves blind loyalty.”

He was righteously scorned:

 

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SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE UNDER ATTACK

DeVos Visits School That Bans Transgender Students During Tour Promoting Taxpayer-Funded Private Education

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5 years ago

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September 19, 2019

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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Thursday morning visited a Pennsylvania school whose policies ban both transgender students and teachers in her annual “back to school” tour promoting taxpayer-funded private education, which she calls “education freedom.”

DeVos once again chose to visit a religious school, the Harrisburg Catholic Elementary School, after which she held a roundtable (video below). For decades DeVos has devoted her professional life to finding ways to make taxpayers pay for private education. Since becoming Education Secretary DeVos has heightened her focus, politicizing her agency to promote private and charter schools over public schools, and working to further marginalize minority students, especially LGBTQ, Black, and disabled children.

As The Huffington Post and CNN report, Harrisburg Elementary School bans transgender students and teachers who have or have begun transitioning. The diocese which oversees the school has a school policy that says to “attempt to make accommodations for such persons would be to cooperate in the immoral action and impose an unacceptable burden on others in the school community.”

Related: DeVos Promotes Plan to Hand Over Billions in Federal Tax Credits for Private, Religious, and Home Schooling

That same policy warns parents that by enrolling their children in the school “they agree that they will not publically [sic] act in opposition to Catholic teaching.”

DeVos politicized her visit in a press release, attacking Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Tom Wolf for vetoing a bill that would have doubled the $210 million in taxpayer funds used to subsidize a program granting tax credits to help funnel money into private and charter schools, and effectively out of the public schools system statewide.

Here’s DeVos today at her roundtable pushing her program to increase taxpayer-funded private, religious, and charter schools, while blasting Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor:

RELATED STORIES:

First Betsy DeVos Came for Transgender Students, Then for the Disabled, Now She’s Targeting Minority Children

DeVos Stops Enforcing Rule Upholding Church and State Separation–Opens Door to Taxpayers Funding Religious Orgs

Betsy DeVos: I Knew Rescinding Guidance Could Lead to Harassment, Depression, Possibly Suicide for Transgender Kids

 

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