ELCA Council Adopts Interim Social Policy on School Vouchers

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a social policy resolution on school vouchers as an interim policy of the church, for possible ratification or amendment by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The policy is meant to guide the public policy advocacy ministry of the church as it evaluates a variety of proposals considered by state legislatures.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies. The council met April 8-9 in Chicago. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2001, in Indianapolis.
The request for guidelines on evaluating school voucher proposals originated in Pennsylvania, said the Rev. John R. Stumme, associate director for studies, ELCA Division for Church in Society. The church's 11,000 congregations are organized into 65 synods, seven of which are in Pennsylvania.
"It seems like every time there's a political question, the ELCA must have a position," said Dale V. Sandstrom, council member, Bismarck, N.D. He said he felt uncomfortable offering guidelines that ELCA public policy directors would use to determine the church's position on any given school voucher proposal.
"We're not asking the ELCA for a position," said the Rev. Roy G. Almquist, bishop of the ELCA's Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Norristown, Pa., advisory council member. He said he was one of those asking for the social policy resolution so Lutherans in Pennsylvania could speak for themselves, using principles which are "consistent with our church."
The Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the ELCA's Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, Pittsburgh, said the bishops of Pennsylvania were concerned that they would not be able "to discuss justice for children in poorer areas" of the state because the church had no guiding principles on the subject. He did not want the ELCA to say nothing, or to say vouchers are good or bad, but to give "guidance for public policy."
"It's not a good idea to take just one stance, with so many different voucher proposals being considered in the state legislatures," said the Rev. W. Robert Sorensen, executive director of the ELCA Division for Higher Education and Schools. He said he has been working for several years with staff of the Division for Church in Society to develop the social policy resolution.
A motion to amend the resolution was defeated. It would have replaced the function of evaluating voucher proposals with one of sharing information about the church's principles. Defining "high quality education" should not be left to the church's state public policy directors, said Brian D. Rude, council member, Coon Valley, Wis.
As a former member of the ELCA's public policy advisory committee in Nebraska, Steven E. Koenig, council member, Elwood, Neb., said he wished he would have had such guidelines. "With none, we either made up our own or said nothing," he said.
The Rev. Diane H. "Dee" Pederson, council member, St. Cloud, Minn., pointed out the resolution states such evaluation is done in consultation with representatives of public and ELCA schools, with administrators, teachers, parents and children, and with community advocacy organizations.
The resolution lists eight goals by which to evaluate proposals for education reform. The council directed ELCA public policy advocacy offices are directed to ask "to what degree does the proposal: + Provide public schools the support and resources necessary to fulfill their tasks? + Increase equal access to high quality education for all, especially for children and youth who live in poverty or are otherwise disadvantaged? + Enhance the ability of families -- especially families living in poverty and other situations of hardship -- to select the right high quality education for their children? + Allow participating schools, including religious ones, to maintain their distinctive character and mission? + Protect against all forms of invidious discrimination against students? + Provide eligible families sufficient and accurate information on participating schools? + Ensure ways for measuring the educational achievements of students in participating schools? + Establish means to evaluate the positive and negative results of the program and, in light of these results, to consider if the program should be continued, modified or ended?"
Advocacy efforts of the ELCA are coordinated through the Division for Church in Society, which supports 18 state public policy advocacy offices with the help of other churchwide, synod and social ministry organizations. Much of such advocacy deals with hunger-related issues, such as food and nutrition, shelter, and affordable housing, environmental stewardship and justice, employment and income, and access to preventative and primary health care.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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