The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is calling on our supporters across the country to make their voices heard in Congress: Please help to defeat the school voucher-inspired scheme in HB 9462, the federal “Educational Choice for Children Act.”
HB 9462 would provide tax credits to individuals who donate to organizations operating scholarship programs, which then provide scholarships to students to attend private schools. In other words, these programs (and the tax breaks that accompany them) funnel funding toward private, mostly religious schools—and away from the secular education provided by public schools. In fact, HB 9462 specifically prohibits excluding religious schools from qualified educational expenses.
Regardless of the exact method used, this scheme has much the same impact as private school vouchers, which CFI has long opposed. Voucher programs divert funding (and students) to private, religious institutions where students will be subject to religious proselytizing and indoctrination and often receive a substandard education. Voucher schemes also take away funding from public schools, which (unlike religious institutions) deliver a secular, fact-based education, welcome all students, and do not discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.
HB 9462 follows in these footsteps and would be the first step toward a federal voucher mandate. While proponents of this movement speak in terms of “educational choice” for students and their families, the fact is they are pushing a religious agenda—one that will primarily benefit religious schools. It will also encourage more of America’s children to attend religiously indoctrinating educational institutions at taxpayer expense.
Thus far, the Educational Choice for Children Act has cleared the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means. It would still need to pass in the House and the Senate, as well as be signed by the president, to become law.
If the separation of church and state is to be upheld, public funding cannot be funneled to private, religious schools. Please join CFI in opposing this bill and tell your members of Congress to vote against HB 9462.
