Texas pastor: ‘A classroom is a holy place of learning — not a marketplace of financial gain’
Charles Foster Johnson is the executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, an independent ministry and outreach group that comprises nearly 2,000 pastors and church leaders from across Texas and works to support public education. Johnson recently testified in Austin about school vouchers — which use public funds to pay for private school tuition — and corporate school reform before the Texas House Education Committee, chaired by state Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R), and his words are worth reading.
A voucher bill passed in the Texas Senate, as it does every year, but members of the Texas House have voted against it in past years, and Johnson’s organization is fighting against it again. Here is the powerful testimony as written and submitted to Aycock’s committee. When talking to the panel, Johnson diverged somewhat from the text, and you can watch him on this video, starting at the 3:50 mark.
Corporate school reform refers to policies that broadly seek to treat the U.S. public education system, a civic institution, as if it were a business. Those policies include: replacing public governance of schools by either appointed leaders or organizations that are not accountable to the public; vouchers and tax credit subsidies for private school tuition; the weakening or elimination of due-process rights of educators; and standardized test-based accountability for educators, students and schools.
In his testimony, Johnson explains why the business model shouldn’t be imposed on public schools:
Chairman Aycock, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you and your committee today about what we have witnessed in our fine neighborhood and community public schools throughout our great state. My name is Charles Johnson, pastor of Bread Fellowship, Fort Worth. I am also executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, a statewide organization mobilizing the faith community for public education support and advocacy. We do two things: We minister to children in our local schools, and we advocate for just policy for ourTexas pastor: ‘A classroom is a holy place of learning — not a marketplace of financial gain’ - The Washington Post: