Today's Wall Street Journal takes a look at the increasing trend of partnerships between public schools and private entities looking to a) help, but b) advertise. Many churches are leading the way in coming to the aid of schools in need. And a megachurch in Lakeland, Florida makes no secret of its aims in helping schoolchildren: to have access to parents and families.
The First Baptist Church at the Mall stocked a resource room with $5,000 worth of supplies. It now caters spaghetti dinners at evening school events, buys sneakers for poor students, and sends in math and English tutors.
The principal is delighted. So are church pastors. "We have inroads into public schools that we had not had before," says Pastor Dave McClamma. "By befriending the students, we have the opportunity to visit homes to talk to parents about Jesus Christ."
Quite apart from the church-state overtones, I wish young students could go to school without being bombarded with reminders that their most basic curricular needs are being sponsored by corporate interests: textbooks brought to you by Nike, pencils provided by the dentist down the street offering a free whitening service, and who knows what offered by the local gun store, which was one school sponsor mentioned in the piece.
Souls for school supplies, though, is a trade in another category altogether, one that should be approached with real care and sensitivity to the religious freedom of both students and parents. Education is a requirement after all, and the supplies in question are essential, desperately needed by struggling communities. Families should be able to participate in public education without being pressured to receive religious representatives in their homes.
