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Compiled by GayToday
Rod Paige |
Washington, D.C.--Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a national
church-state watchdog group, insists that President-elect George W. Bush's nominee for
secretary of the United States Department of Education, Houston Independent
School District superintendent Rod Paige, be asked "tough questions
about his understanding of the scope of separation of church and state." |
"Mr. Paige's record in Houston contains some positive and some troubling
aspects," said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United.
"Although he has been willing to stop promotion of religion in public
schools, his flirtations with vouchers and charter schools are disturbing."
Lynn noted:
"The Senate needs to question this nominee in detail about how
far he is willing to take the idea of 'choice' in education funding." He
suggested that the Senate should review:
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What Paige meant when he told the Houston Chronicle on May 22, 1998: "[A
limited voucher program] doesn't weaken public school systems, it strengthens
public school systems." This comment is used by virtually every right-wing
pro-voucher group to claim growing support for vouchers in minority
communities.
Why Paige negotiated with a private religious school to accept students
under a funding program intended solely for non-sectarian schools willing to
accept poor-performing students. This controversy grew from a request in 1999
by Dr. Leon Spivey of Life Ministries Christian Academy to accept students
(and funding) for what he claimed was a "new" preparatory school, but one
which would operate in the same building and with the same programs as the
pre-existing religious school.
Lynn did commend Paige for his willingness earlier this year to respond to
the complaints of church-state separationists that Bible and Jesus-oriented
bulletin boards at the Paul Revere Middle School be taken down.
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Related Sites:
Americans United for the Seperation of Church & State
Rod Paige
Bush-Cheney Transition
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Paige wrote to a Texas atheist group:
"The material was immediately removed. The requirement of the separation of
church and state is an important tenet. I believe in and support its enforcement."
Concluded Lynn, "Americans deserve to know exactly what the head of federal
programs for education believes about diverting public dollars to religious
use."
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