Texas Faith : Which should it be for people of faith: Faith-based schools or public schools?

URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-which-should-it-be-for/

We owe it to our children and the future of our nation to keep the
personal version of God in our homes. Either either teach them all versions of God
in school or none. I will not move the proverbial needle a bit. I will stick with the First Amendment. There is a lot of wisdom in it.
Mike Ghouse

Bishop Kevin Farrell and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings at Bishop Dunne Catholic School

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings convened
a group at the George W. Bush Institute last Thursday to discuss the
role faith-based schools play in American cities. The group drew upon
representatives from various traditions, including Catholic, Islamic and
evangelical educators.

Later, Rawlings said one of the first big words he learned in Sunday
school as a kid was “omniscient.” He said he went on to learn
“omnipresent,” which led him to think that if God was indeed everywhere,
then he is in schools, too. Rawlings, who identifies himself as a
Democrat and Protestant, summed up his feelings this way:

“Surely we can create a new way to educate, to fund the best and the
brightest in this country,” Rawlings said. “For me, it starts with God
being omnipresent in lives across this country.”

So, here’s what I would like to hear you all discuss:

Are people of faith better off focusing their attention on education to schools that reflect their own tradition? Of course, I imagine most of you think that public schools are valuable. Many of us probably attended them.

But if you really want to make an education dent, especially getting
students to discuss God and larger issues of moral consequence, couldn’t
one argue that schools that represent the values of a particular faith
tradition are the better place to start?

Certainly, Catholic schools have produced strong results. Speaking at the Bush Institute conference, Father Tim Scully of Notre Dame
claimed that 99 percent of students in Catholic high schools graduate.
Eighty-five percent of those graduates, he said, attend college. And
Latino and African-American students who attend Catholic school are
two-and-a-half times more likely to graduate from college.

What do you think? Where should people of faith put their focus on education,
especially in our big cities? How would you try to move the needle, as
the expression goes?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

Making an “education dent” is not merely about academics. It also is
about producing all-round kids: academically, socially, religiously and
culturally Kids who would grow up to be a part of society and not apart
from it in their outlook.

However, I have always envied those kids who went to the Catholic
schools for the discipline they received from superbly run systems. As
an adult and before we had our children, I wanted to send my kids to
Mormon schools for the cohesive family values they teach.

Making decisions for our kids to go to school was a worthwhile
exercise. We seriously debated about sending them to the public school
or private school, day care or private care. The strongest point in
favor of public school was raising them in an environment that would
familiarize them with the real world they were going to be a part of
when they grew up.

It would be a norm to see people of different faiths,
races and ethnicities working together, marrying each other, going to
plays, watching football games, watching their kid’s soccer games, and
even the places of worship!

Thank God, both my kids were not raised with an ounce of bigotry. If
they decide to run for a public office, they will have it easy, as they
are comfortable with every race, faith, ethnicity, culture or sexual
orientation. They were well-oriented with my home and work. Don’t we
want our leaders to represent every member of their constituency? If we
do, we need to prepare them for that.

My grade school social studies book had a few pages that gave a summary
of each religion and its fountainhead. As a kid I understood that there
were as many faiths as the candy colors I could get, especially the
police candy.

We owe it to our children and the future of our nation to keep the
personal version of God in our homes. Either either teach them all versions of God
in school or none.

I will not move the needle a bit. I will stick with the First Amendment. There is a lot of wisdom in it.


To read the contributions of other panelists, please go to Dallas Morning News at:
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/texas-faith-which-should-it-be-for-people-of-faith-faith-based-schools-or-public-schools.html/#more-30259