Group Questions Ill. Charter’s Pact With Religious Nonprofit
May 12, 2014
Advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State is urging Chicago schools officials to deny a final OK to a planned charter school over the institution’s collaboration with a faith-based after-school program, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The city’s board of education has tentatively approved the Chicago Education Partnership’s proposed charter elementary school, set to open next year. The partnership’s plan includes an after-hours program run by a group affiliated with Chicago’s Moody Church that would offer students help with homework, meals, and Bible instruction.
Illinois law requires that taxpayer-funded charter schools be nonreligious. A lawyer for the church-state group said the proposed arrangement represents “serious constitutional problems” and could prompt legal action if it goes through.
Michael Rogers, executive director of Chicago Education Partnership and a leader at the faith group, By the Hand Club for Kids, said the school and the after-school effort would be separately managed, and parents can decide if they want their children to participate in religious programming.
http://philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/group-questions-ill-charters-pact-with-religious-nonprofit/85167
