Religion & Law

My colleague, Susan Stabile, reminds us (here) that the issue of education is not only about educational choice. For Mirror of Justice readers looking for more on education policy questions in the current campaign, I've posted several such messages in the past three weeks, some on the lengthy side for a blog, about education as a largely neglected issue in this presidential election (for a sample, see here and here). Even when education issues have been raised by the candidates, the talking points usually have been general in description and one-dimensional in character. And the media has failed in its journalistic responsibility to examine the actual record of the candidates on educational initiatives and their success (or lack thereof).

More specifically in response to Susan on educational choice, I would emphasize that while it may not be the only issue, it is a central issue. It is not simply a matter of allowing more families to choose Catholic schools, although that is a worthy cause in itself because it empowers families to take their own educational destiny into their own hands. It also promotes religious liberty by allowing Americans to freely choose a faith-based form of education. From an educational reform perspective, school choice is important as well by creating competition and diversity in educational methods and breaking the strangle-hold on education policy by the public school establishment and the teacher's unions. Placing educational choice at the center of our discussion is well-justified.

In any event, as the recent set of additional postings now confirm, the subject of education is not neglected on the Mirror of Justice any longer.

Greg Sisk