Culture Wars 101

      Schools Public Schools
      Private Schools (Vouchers)
      Homeschooling
      News Archive





      Public Schools
      The public schools are the "ground zero" of the culture war. Due to economic constraints, attendance is essentially compulsory and religious conservatives feel that the schools are an increasingly inhospitable environment. Religious conservatives feel that the schools restrict their childrens' rights of religious observance while pushing a 'secular humanist' agenda of sex education, religion-free classrooms, and 'situation ethics'. The offenses of the public schools in the eyes of religious conservatives, then, are of both omission and commission.

      On a historical note, conservative Protestants had seen the public schools as an ally in the first part of the century, where they served as a tool of assimilation for the children of Catholics. Of course, the King James Bible was read in the classrooms in those days, and things were *quite* different. The changing environment of the public schools has changed a feeling of alliance between conservative Christians and their public schools to one of betrayal.
        Students' Rights and the Public Schools   (The American Center for Law and Justice)
        Public Schools: Battleground or Common Ground?
        Attacks on the Freedom to Learn   (People for the American Way)
        Case Studies of Religious Right School Board Campaigns in Pennsylvania and Texas   (People for the American Way)


          Sex Education
            The Religious Right's Campaign against Sexuality Education   (People for the American Way)
            Sex Education: What Works?   (The Family Research Council)


          Prayer in Schools
            Prayer in the Public Schools   (A somewhat liberal view)

          School Reform
            Misconceptions About Goals 2000: The Educate America Act   (US Dept. of Education)


          Organizations that deal with Schools
            Citizens for Excellence in Education


      Private Schools

        Vouchers


          Pro-Voucher

            School Choice and Voucher Report
            With Liberty and Justice for all: Redefining the Educational Choice Debate

          Anti-Voucher
            The Case Against Vouchers
            Home schoolers against vouchers



        Why the Need for Private Schools?
          The Separation of School and State Alliance


      Homeschooling
      Homeschooling is by no means exclusively a phenomenon among religious conservatives. Indeed, many parents homeschool their children for what could be considered "liberal" reasons. Regardless, the homeschooling movement has grown tremendously in the last ten years, and many see it as an "escape valve" for parents fed up with the public schools.

        Why Homeschool?
          Homeschoolers: Pioneers of Freedom
          Biblical Foundations for Homeschooling
          Christian Homeschool Forum: Homeschool FAQs
          Unschooling Undefined


        Homeschooling Organizations

          Christian Homeschool Forum
          Homeschool World


      News Archive
        Public Schools Teach Bible as History
        Immersion Vs. Bilingual Education
        Early American Samplers: You Go, Schoolgirl!
        Clinton Extends Education Agenda to Urban Schools
        Public School Shopping in Delaware
        School Investigating Christmas Card Case
        Is Faith the Answer for Urban Schools?
        Putting Faith in School Successes
        An Exodus From the Public Schools
        Church Programs Improving Grades of Black Students
        US Judge Curtails Religious Acts in Alabama Schools
        A New Breed of School is Born; Charters blend private, public
        Lawmakers Again Propose School Vouchers for District
        Librarians Vote to Keep Gay Sex Book Belmont copy hidden by 2 patrons in protest
        High Marks for School Choice (Washington Post 8/6/97)
        L. Ron Hubbard Books in Public Schools? (Philadelphia Daily News 7/30/97)
        Backing From Blacks Adds Momentum to Vouchers (Phiadelphia Daily News 7/28/97)
        Black Support Grows for School Voucher Programs (Akron Beacon Journal 7/28/97)
        Schools Nationwide Study Chicago's School Reforms (Chicago Sun Times 7/6/97)
        Supreme Court Ruling May Boost Ohio Voucher Plan (Columbus Dispatch 6/24/97)
        Parochial School Teaching May be Aided by Federal Funds, Court Says (New York Law Journal 6/24/97)
        Bible-Study Fight Grows as Schools Resurrect 'World's Oldest Textbook' (Detroit News 6/20/97) Controversial Counselors in Elementary Schools (US News and World Report 5/17/97)
        School Vouchers Revisited: Studies Show Benefits (SF Chronicle 5/12/97)
        School District Ruled Unlawful (National Law Journal 5/8/97)
        Poor Kids Have Worst Schools, Survey Finds (S.F. Chronicle 5/4/97)
        Play at Greeley High Draws Protests (Denver Post 4/27/97)
        Study Blasts Abstinence-Only Sex Education (San Francisco Chronicle 4/29/97
        School Prayer Proponents Began Battle with House Bill (JTA 5/8/97)