Should Faith Have a Role in Public Education?
Dr. Irvin L. Scott, founder of Harvard’s Leadership Institute for Faith and Education, and Mark Rodgers, the founder and principal of The Clapham Group, reflect on the role of faith in education.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City, the seat of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.Credit...Nathan J. Fish/The Oklahoman, via Usa Today Network
The Republican District Attorney for the state of Oklahoma recently argued before the state’s Supreme Court that the religious charter violates both state law and the Oklahoma Constitution which require that public schools be “free of sectarian control.”
As the court considers the case of the country’s first religious charter school, it is important not to lose the forest for the trees. Those of us on different sides of the church-state debate should be able to agree that the role religion plays a critically important role in the wellbeing and educational outcomes of our nation’s youth and should be encouraged.
We met at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through an initiative to explore avenues and benefits of strengthening the relationship between faith communities and America’s educational system, as diverse as both are.
Since then, we have been involved in setting up a program at Harvard called the Leadership Institute on Faith and Education (LIFE) to explore and encourage conversations between faith communities and educational stakeholders.
At a time in our country in which the concern over our youth’s mental wellbeing is widely shared, one of the variables which is often overlooked is the positive role of religion in their lives. A few years ago, Springtide Research Institute surveyed a cohort of Generation Z, finding that 55% of respondents agreed that “that their religious or spiritual life matters for their mental health.” In that same report, they noted that “[y]oung people who say they are religious are more likely to agree or strongly agree that they are in good physical and emotional condition.”
It’s unfortunate then, that religious affiliation and attendance at houses of worship among youth has been on a precipitous decline over the past decade. Pew Research Center reports that Gen-Z makes up 29% of “nones,” people without any religious affiliation.. The American Survey Center additionally reports that “more than one-third (34 percent) of Generation Z are religiously unaffiliated,” a result of the increase in unchurched upbringings for this age group.
This tragically comes at the heels of the COVID-19 lockdowns, which not only closed schools but churches as well, many of which (especially in rural areas) have been permanently shuttered or not fully recovered. Church affiliation and attendance is a critical element of the social fabric of a community, is a social determinant of health, and can contribute positively to addressing social needs, including concerns related to family stability, which is also related to positive educational outcomes.
In fact, churches can provide after school programs, mentors, back-to-school supplies and work closely with the local school system to address other particular needs they might have, including providing volunteers for repairing and improving facilities such as playgrounds.
There are other specific needs that faith communities are well positioned to provide. For example in the Latino community, churches serve as advocates and translators for families for whom language is a barrier and the American educational system is still foreign and intimidating.
One of the most critical junctures in a child’s educational outcome is whether or not they are able to read proficiently by the third grade. In the African American community, churches are often located close to schools, and many provide reading programs as well as internet labs for students after school, which can also provide additional care for families whose work day does not allow them to be at home when school lets out.
Regardless how the court rules, we encourage Oklahoma and other states to creatively explore ways to strengthen the relationship between faith communities and public school systems. As America falls behind other developed countries in academic achievement, we need to be inviting more stakeholders to the table, not discouraging them from being involved. We're convinced there are ways to do faith and public education alliances in a way that respects the separation of church and state, while capitalizing on the tremendous power of faith organizations to support the health and well-being of America’s children.
Irvin L. Scott, Ed.D. is the author of Leading with Heart and Soul: 30 Inspiring Lessons of Faith, Learning, and Leadership for Educators, senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and founder of its Leadership Institute for Faith and Education, an initiative that brings education and faith communities together. Before serving as deputy director of K-12 education for the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, Dr. Scott spent more than 20 years as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and chief academic officer.
Mark Rodgers is the founder and principal of The Clapham Group, a social impact agency based in Washington DC that works in the intersection of faith, public policy and culture. He served on Capitol Hill as a senior staffer for 16 years, and works with foundations, NGOs and media projects to advance the common good.