The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a national private school voucher program, harms public education and undermines the fundamental American principle of the separation of church and state. As a rabbi, I stand with over 300 other clergy members of diverse faith traditions and more than 80 religious organizations, representing over 3.6 million people, who oppose this bill.
Public education and the separation of church and state are essential pillars of our country, and they strengthen our nation. But ECCA, part of President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” will transfer money from the poor to the wealthy to fund vouchers for students to attend private religious schools. It will undermine both public education and the separation of church and state.
With 90% of American schoolchildren being educated in public schools, it is our moral responsibility to maintain those schools at the highest standards. Public education encourages children to learn about the diversity inherent in the United States. Public education is vital because it serves all children without discrimination, as opposed to private religious schools that can reject students based on sexual orientation, academic ability, disabilities, and even religion. It is wrong to fund schools that can ignore federal civil rights laws and require students to give up their protections under the Disabilities Act.
I, with my fellow religious leaders and people of faith, understand that freedom of religion is essential for a healthy democracy. We recognize that using public funds to pay for religious private school tuition is wrong. Public dollars should not be used for religious education. Regrettably, the ECCA would do just that. It would divert public money to fund primarily religious private schools.
I should not be asking members of other faith communities to fund the religious education of Jewish students, as members of the Jewish community should not be asked to fund the religious education of other faiths. Requiring that citizens of diverse religious beliefs, members of religious minorities, or those who hold no religious beliefs, support religion not their own infringes on their rights. No citizen should be forced to fund another’s religious beliefs − this violates the very spirit of our nation.
Religious education is the responsibility of faith groups and those who wish to send their students to such schools. It is not the responsibility of others who do not hold the same views. By dictating that public dollars fund religious education, Congress is endorsing religious education. This is bad for our nation.
We must urge senators to reject the Educational Choice for Children Act, for it will damage public education, erode the separation of church and state, and harm our nation. The time to act is now.
Robert B. Barr is the founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Adam, an independent, liberal synagogue in Loveland, Ohio.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump’s budget bill forces taxpayers to fund religious beliefs they don’t share | Opinion
Reporting by Robert B. Barr / Cincinnati Enquirer
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