wfn.org | Back To School: NCC Urges Churches To Support Public Education

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of Churches
NCC8/16/02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BACK TO SCHOOL:  NCC URGES CHURCHES TO SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION

August 16, 2002, NEW YORK CITY - Actively support public schools this fall,
the National Council of Churches is urging churches in a pastoral letter
that reminds them that 90 percent of U.S. children attend public schools.

In the letter, Bob Edgar, the NCCs General Secretary, affirms the
excellent work of schools sponsored by some of the Councils 36 member
denominations, but reminds churches that public schools are the primary
route for most children, especially the children of poverty, into full
participation in our economic, political and community life.

Dr. Edgar encourages congregations to plan public celebrations of all who
work in public education, offering as a resource the Litany for Education
and Schools developed by the NCCs Committee on Public Education and
Literacy.

Public schools are our nation's largest social institution, he says,
noting that many of them perform at a high level and others are struggling.

Rejecting talk of failing schools as neither fair nor helpful, Dr. Edgar
urges congregations and communities to ask the hard question: Are our
public schools failing, or are we as a society failing our public schools by
refusing to provide the resources needed for them to succeed?

The pastoral letter has been sent to leadership of the NCCs member
denominations and of state and local ecumenical councils across the United
States.  The Litany for Education and Schools is available on the National
Council of Churches Web site (www.ncccusa.org) at:
http://www.ncccusa.org/gifs/Litanyhandout.pdf or write NCC Ministries in
Christian Education, Room 834, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115;
phone 212-870-2297.

The full text of the letter follows:

On behalf of the National Council of Churches, to which 50 million Americans
relate through their denominations, I greet you and also present you with an
urgent request.

This June the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a favorable judgment on the
constitutionality of the Cleveland school voucher program (Zelman vs.
Simmons-Harris). The response to this ruling within the Christian community
was divided.  But, no matter what our views on this ruling may be, one thing
is overwhelmingly clear: the vast majority, over 90%, of our nation's
school-age children attend public school. I recognize the excellent work of
schools sponsored by some of our member communions. Yet while we affirm the
contribution of private schools to the welfare of children, public schools
are the primary route for most children, especially the children of poverty,
into full participation in our economic, political, and community life.  The
well being of children, all children, is a central concern of the National
Council of Churches.

I am writing to you to ask that you urge your congregations to actively
support public schools this fall. It is time to stand up for our children in
a visible way. Let me propose two areas of focus:

1. Public schools are our nation's largest social institution. Many of those
schools perform at a high level as they prepare students for the future.
Some schools struggle and face difficult challenges without adequate
resources, many of them serving large numbers of children living in poverty.
We read about 'failing schools' as we blame schools for social realities
beyond their control. This is neither fair nor helpful language. We need to
ask ourselves the hard question: Are our public schools failing, or are we
as a society failing our public schools by refusing to provide the resources
needed for them to succeed?

      I urge you to begin a conversation within your congregations and
communities about how issues of diminished tax dollars, health care, safety,
racism, homelessness, childcare, unfunded mandates, and unequal distribution
of public funding impact local schools. How can your congregations and
communities participate in efforts to reform public policy and to strengthen
schools as they strain to overcome these formidable obstacles? Even with
educational alternatives, the primary institution where our society
expresses its concern for and meets the needs of children will be public
schools.

2. Those who teach our children need affirmation and support from their
faith communities. Parker Palmer writes, America's teachers are the culture
heroes of our time. Daily they solve problems that baffle the rest of us.
Daily they are asked to work with resources nowhere near commensurate with
the task. And daily they are berated by politicians, the public, and the
press for their alleged failures and inadequacies...What Jacques Barzun said
about teaching fifty years ago remains true...'Teaching is not a lost art
but the regard for it is a lost tradition'...Caught in an anguishing bind
between the good work they do and the public misperceptions that surround
them, hundreds and thousands of teachers somehow keep the faith and keep
going -and we can be thankful that they do. (Forward in Sam Intrator, ed.,
Stories of Courage to Teach: Honoring the Teacher's Heart, San Francisco:
Jossey Bass, 2002, p. xvii ff.).

   I entreat you to find ways to support and express appreciation for the
work of our school teachers and all who labor in public education including
administrators, support staff, custodial staff, bus drivers and maintenance
staff. Many within our communions are public educators by vocation. They are
involved in education as an expression of their concern for children and
passion for justice grounded in their faith in Jesus Christ, and they need
the active support of their faith community. I propose that each faith
community set apart a Sunday to affirm public school workers. I have
enclosed a Litany for Education and Schools developed by the NCC Committee
on Public Education and Literacy. The Committee continues to explore
additional ways to celebrate public school teaching, to recognize teachers
of excellence, and to emphasize teaching as an expression of Christian
commitment.

Thank you for joining with me in these efforts to care for our children as
we support our nation's schools.

Sincerely,
Bob Edgar
General Secretary
-end-