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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Intefaith Alliance On the Religous Discrimination Amdt
From Interfaith Alliance:
Today, The Interfaith Alliance
alerted its members to an amendment to a bipartisan bill to reauthorize
the Head Start program that would allow government -funded Head Start
providers to exercise religious discrimination in choosing teachers and
volunteers. The School Readiness Act (H.R. 2123), is expected to be
voted on by the full House of Representatives as soon as this
Wednesday, September 21.
Yesterday, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith
Alliance, briefed Members of Congress and their staffs on the threats
to religious liberty posed by the amendment. The amendment, Gaddy said,
would subsidize religious discrimination with tax dollars, turning back
civil rights protections that currently apply to nearly 200,000 Head
Start teachers and over 1.4 million parent volunteers.
“The levees have been broken, and the wall between church and
state is cracking,” warned Gaddy. “The
Boustany amendment is just one example of political opportunists taking
advantage of a national tragedy to institute policies that have not
found enough support for passage in more normal times.
“Religious organizations have had a long and proud history in
their active participation in Head Start programs. For years,
houses of worship have made substantial contributions to their
communities with the existing workplace protections in place. If those
in Congress who seek to repeal these employment safeguards are
successful, thousands of children, teachers and parent volunteers who
have dedicated themselves to this program could find themselves no
longer welcome at religiously-affiliated Head Start programs because
they are of a different faith than the sponsoring
organization.”
Across the nation, members of The Interfaith Alliance are calling on
their Members of Congress to reject any assault on civil rights
protections in federally-funded programs, especially a program as
critical as Head Start.
Initiated in 1965 in the wake of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964,
Head Start has been widely recognized as one of the most successful
government programs ever created. It has provided early childhood
education and development programs that have helped millions of
low-income families overcome inequities for more than forty years.
Posted by Jennifer Lowe
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