Religious And Public Education Unite

On Behalf Of Children

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) and the National Education Association (NEA) recently convened a daylong interfaith meeting to develop proposals for how religious groups can work with parents, teachers, and administrators to support and improve public schools.

The gathering drew close to 70 national, state, and local leaders representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Bah’ai congregations, as well as the National PTA, the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association, among others.

“Educating every child in America to the fullest extent of his or her potential is as much a moral imperative as it is a civic duty,” said NEA President Reg Weaver. “We are on a mission to make great public schools for every child, and I can think of no better way to achieve this goal than to partner with the community and this includes working with institutions of faith.”

The Reverend Dr Bob Edgar, general secretary of the NCC, agreed.

“I believe in the separation of church and state, but not the separation of people of faith from institutions of government,” he said.

The group agreed that one of the greatest challenges for public education is to find ways to close the achievement gap, particularly between children attending poor urban schools versus more affluent suburban ones.

The church groups decided to advocate for legislation to eliminate the enormous funding gap between schools attended by the nation’s poor children and those for the affluent.

Also suggested was churches promoting public education in their services by congratulating honor roll students and public school teachers, encouraging members of their congregations to consider teaching as a profession, support mentoring problems and offer donations of books, school supplies and clothing for students in need.

The groups discussed meeting again later in the year to further develop these initiatives.

For more information, visit www.nea.org.