During the past twenty years, and particularly during these last ten years, a different kind of special interest group has emerged and is attempting to seriously change the direction of public education. This special interest group has an agenda that can have a impact on both what is taught and how things are taught in the public schools. This group is different from earlier special interest groups because it is tied to a more comprehensive and complex agenda--religion.
Fifteen years ago, this religious coalition may have been bound together by such issues as secular textbooks, sex education, or the use of certain kinds of instructional materials. Now, the agenda is directed towards school reform efforts such as performance or outcome based education, multiculturalism, global education, values education, and critical thinking, all related to a particular religious point of view.
The difference between earlier groups and the current special interest groups being studied is the blending of quasi- political and religious interests that tend to be weighing heavily on the side of conservatism. This special interest group has generally been called the "New Christian Right."
The effectiveness of the New Christian Right (NCR) is networking on the national level so they can have an influence on local level political action.
Instead of focusing on a national agenda of religious and political conservatism, the NCR is coordinating efforts to gain control of local and state government:: e.g., school boards, city councils, county boards, and state legislatures.
School boards are particularly vulnerable because of the "stealth" tactics of NCR candidates. However, the potential impact on what happens in the classrooms of America's public schools may be directly related to the effectiveness of the national network of the NCR on what happens in school board elections.
Most school administrators and school board members are aware of the influences of the NCR. They also know that these activities may result in some of the most divisive activities in their community. With declarations of absolutes, biblical propositions, and predictions of imminent disaster at the foundation of the NCR, the public school leaders of America are facing a major challenge. One purpose of this special report is to review how the NCR has evolved into a formidable special interest group that is representative of conservative political and religious thought.
Recent findings of a national survey of Horace Mann League members concerning the influence this coalition has on the future of public education are presented. This report will also provide suggestions on how public educators and community leaders can respond to the agenda of the NCR.
Participants were asked to indicate which of the NCR leaders was most often mentioned in their community. Pat Robertson was recognized most often as the leader of the NCR. Robert Simonds was relatively well recognized by participants in the Mid America and Western states.
Ranking of the most influential NCR leader in your community
1st. Pat Robertson - Christian Coalition
Involving community representatives at the beginning of the school reform activity was found to be the most effective method of responding to the requests of the NCR. Organizing pro-active parent groups that support school reform efforts and using the resources of professional associations (e.g., AASA, Americans United, ASCD, NEA, American Library Association, and NASSP) were also rated as being very effective in countering the efforts of the NCR.
Authors' note: A recently formed grassroots organization called the,Freedom to Learn Network, has been formed to defend public school and oppose censorship. For further information about the parents' network contact:
Freedom to Learn Network
1st. Seek support from community religious and civic leaders.
Perceptions of the NCR by participants
Participants believed that values clarification and sex education programs were the primary concerns of the NCR. Outcome based education was also perceived as an important concern of the NCR, primarily in the Western states.
Ranking of "fairly important" activity by the religious right in your community
Adequate financing of public education and attracting talented teachers and administrators were perceived to be the most important issues to be addressed in the future.
Perceived future issues in public education
1st. Adequate financial resources to provide quality public education.
NCR's literal interpretation of the Bible, along with an intolerance for compromise, place public educators and school boards in highly volatile circumstances. School administrators are again faced with the need to sharpen their skills in diplomacy and conflict management. When appropriate, school administrators will need to further strengthen their resolve to stand up for some long-held beliefs about what and how to preserve the purposes of the common public school.
Boston, R. (1993). Why the religious right is wrong about separation of church and state. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Diamond, S. (1989). The politics of the Christian Right. Boston: South End Press.
Falwell, J. (1979). America can be saved. Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers
Kaplan, G.R. (1994). Shotgun wedding: Notes on public education's encounter with the new Christian Right. Phi Delta Kappa. May, 1994.
Kennedy, Rev. D.J. (1993). Education: Public problems and private solutions. Coral Ridge Ministries.
Marsden, G. (1993). The Religious Right: An historical overview. In no longer exiles: The religious new right in American politics, Cromartie, M. (Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Policy Center.
Robertson, P. (1990). America at the Crossroads, video.
Simonds, R. (1990). Public school awareness church committee workbook manual. Costa Mesa, CA: Citizens for Excellence in Education.
Terry, R. (1993, August 16). The Fort Wayne (IN) News Sentinel
Weyrich, P. (1993). Comments: In no longer exiles: The religious new right in American politics, Cromartie, M. (Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Policy Center. pp. 25-26.
Dr. Jack McKay is the Chair of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Executive Director of the Horace Mann League.
December 1994
By: Dr. Marilyn Grady and
Dr. Jack McKay
Emergence of the New Christian Right
Today's NCR and its involvement in politics can be traced back to the development of the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment. On one side was Thomas Jefferson who viewed religion as tribal and divisive. Jeffersonians viewed religion and government together as a threat to national unity. For those of mostly Anglican and Catholic religious beliefs, the acceptance of religious diversity was an important moral duty. On the other side, Protestants and Puritans saw religion and government together as essential to national unity. They believed that the Bible was an important guide to national righteousness and that religious hierarchy and political authoritarianism were compatible.
Through the first half of the nineteenth century, the strength of the evangelical Protestants was in New England. Reflecting Puritan beliefs, they influenced politics with a platform that supported the conversion of individuals and the transformation of society through Christian virtues of industry, thrift, and personal purity. The Whig Party reflected these New England beliefs of regulating society according to evangelical principles (Marsden, 1993).
With changing political issues in the mid 1800s, the Whig Party membership declined and was replaced with rural and regional Republican parties and anti-slavery groups. The Republican Party carried on the Puritan-evangelical movement of regulating society according to Christian principles.
In response to the Republican party platform of self-righteous evangelical desires, Catholics leaned toward the Democratic party and promoting Americanism. Eventually, in the late 1800s, the Democratic party also incorporated the reformist and sectarian elements and looked much like the Republicans. During the first half of the 1900s, both parties were quite similar in character and platform. One example of a common theme was prohibition
Progressivism and secularization started to wane in the last half of this century when American society was faced with increasing cultural upheavals such as resistance to the Vietnam War, racial riots in the larger cities and the declining family structure. These issues along with abortion, pornography, school prayer, spreading communism, and the Equal Rights Amendment, all led to a new direction for the NCR. The backlash of progressivism brought together an evangelical, fundamentalist and Pentecostal-Charismatic coalition. This coalition of anti-liberals became a significant force in the Republican Party in the 1970s.
Another scenario is the belief that the NCR resurfaced in the 1970s and 1980s because of a perceived intrusion o the federal government into private and parochial school matters. Weyrich (1993) states that the political involvement of the NCR was a reaction o the federal government's perceived move to control private school teacher certification and curriculum. A current theme of the NCR is to promote fear that the federal government will become powerful enough to dictate what happens in their churches.
NCR Accomplishments
According to Marsden (1993), the NCR has accomplished three objectives. First, the NCR caused the revival of symbolic politics of nostalgia: prayer, purity, family, and flag. Second, the NCR revived and placed the serious moral issues, such as family and decency, free enterprise, and school prayer, on the political agenda. Third, the NCR has had a major impact on political parties and policy platforms.
The NCR has been successful in bringing into focus the priorities of clean living, solid academic programs and the importance of the family. According to Kaplan (1994), nothing obsesses the NCR more than getting children off to a strong moral start. According to Diamond (1989), the right to determine how and by whom the minds of their children are molded is the most valued prize in the tug of war between the NCR and secular society. With the fundamental belief in "original sin," they believe exposing their children to the temptations of today's morally declining society is wrong.
An example of NCR's commitment and nationally organized efforts, the Citizens for Excellence in Education, led by Dr. Robert Simonds, of Costa Mesa, California, published The Manual for the Public School Awareness Committee (PSAC), a church committee workbook. The manual contains sample letters, survey and strategies on how to meet with the superintendent, how to confront individual board members, how to utilize the media, how to sponsor "Teacher of the Year" awards and student essay contests, and how to access the PSAC "hot line" network for assistance.
The Current Challenge
Followers of the NCR are very concerned about their children's education. They want to change the public schools. To do that, they become involved by attending school functions, speaking out on particular issues, seeking positions on school committees, and running for the local or state school board.
NCR concerns are related to the return to traditional family roles--as opposed to gay rights; women as homemakers--as opposed to the single, working mother; and school prayer and creationism--as opposed to a secular approach and the scientifically based theory of evolution. Kaplan (1994), in a review of New Christian Right history states: They are disillusioned by what is considered to be the growing futility of public education.
The New Christian Right is seeking to position itself as an arbiter or standard-setter of life in education's household. It has staked out a clear moral stance: Its version of true, uncompromising Christian belief, which it defends with primitive ferocity (p.2).
Kaplan quotes philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce in describing the fixation on belief. "The fundamentalist temperament tends to search for certainty rather than for error. The fundamentalist's tendency is to nail his beliefs in place." The dilemma facing public educators occurs when responding to tenets of the NCR.
The NCR seems to be more interested in dominating the issue, rather than in the equal representation of all sides.
School administrators, when speaking against the goals of the NCR, appear to favor sexual permissiveness, abortion, cultism, homosexuality, and atheism. If school administrators are not for the goals of the NCR, then they are seen as anti-Christian.
The growing influence and power of the NCR is evident across the nation. Boston (1994) found that in literature, the most common targets are Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Curricular programs under attack by the New Christian Right are the Impressions reading series for allegedly promoting witchcraft; the Lions Club's Quest anti-drug program that allegedly promotes values clarification that undermines parental authority; and Pumsy (In Pursuit of Excellence), a self-esteem building program, that allegedly promotes New Age Mysticism and Hinduism. In may school districts, school boards hope to avoid controversy by simply removing the books or programs without debate. In other communities, intense battles develop between groups, not about the particular books or programs, but rather about religion in the schools.
Generally, the resulting debates are not based on educational benefit, but rather on religious perceptions and beliefs. Tactics are utilizing and manipulating the media, rather than face-to-face exchanges of concerns between the groups; and the literal interpretations of the Biblical truth, rather than compromise and tolerance for a diversity of ideas.
There is a growing perception among public educators that the NCR is intent on seeing that public education fails.
The destruction of public education is not a new goal of the NCR. In 1979, Reverend Jerry Falwell's book, America Can Be Saved, stated, "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be."
The Rev. D. James Kennedy (1993), of the Coral ridge Ministries, states: "the Christian community has a golden opportunity to train an army of dedicated teachers who can invade the public schools and use them to influence the nation of Christ."
Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, in 1993, states:
I want to have a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good. Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty. We are called by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism.
Finally, Pat Robertson (1990), founder of the Christian Coalition, states: "I believe the Christian Coalition will be the most powerful political force in America by the end of the decade."
Opportunistic politicians, such as presidential hopefuls Bennett and Buchannan on the national level and congressional candidates at the state level, are capitalizing on the motives of the NCR by supporting the myth of anti- religious, anti-family, anti-moral values, and academically void public schools.
The NCR promotes simplistic solutions such as school choice, vouchers and privatization operated under sound Christian principles.
Procedures
Serious questions surface from a review of the literature. Questions also result from actual experiences school administrators encountered when responding to the NCR. The first research question was to determine if the perceptions and experiences of front line educators across the nation were consistent with the literature about the NCR activities. A related question was to determine if there were parts of the nation that appeared to have more NCR activities than others.
The second research question was to determine what educational reforms were most often targeted by the NCR. The third research question was to determine what strategies were mentioned by participants as being most effective in responding to the NCR. Finally, questions were asked to determine if these perceptions and beliefs were common amongst administrators across the nation.
During the spring and summer of 1994, a survey instrument was developed, field tested and mailed to 505 members of the Horace Mann League, a national organization of educational leaders committed to strengthening the common school systems. One hundred-forty -six surveys (28%) were returned and analyzed. Three-quarters of the participants were current or former school superintendents. A third were associated with school districts of less than 5,000 students, and almost 40% were associated with school districts of between 5,000 and 20,000 students.
Participants were divided into four regions of the United States: northeast, southern, mid-America, and western states. Analysis of the responses indicated that there were no significant differences among the four regions in the survey results.
Influencing the public schools
Following are tables which summarize the questions asked of the participants from each of the regions of the United States. The first series of questions related to the impact of the New Christian Right (NCR) on public schools. The first research question was to determine if the influence of the NCR was regional or national. Overall, 82% of the total participants indicated that the NCR was influencing school actions during the last five years.
Table 1
NCR efforts to influence the public schools
New Southern Mid Western
England States America States
(43) (35) (30) (28)
Yes 69.8% 91.4% 90.0% 82.1%
No 30.2% 8.6% 10.0% 17.9%
Programs promoted by the NCR
Participants were asked to indicate the programs or policies that were most often promoted by the NCR. Privatization of schooling was most often an agenda item in all regions, but particularly in the New England states.
Table 2
Ranking of programs or issues promoted by NCR in your community
1st. Privatization of public schools, school choice, and vouchers.
2nd. Mandated prayer in the public schools.
3rd. Implementation of a "Back to Basics" curriculum.
New Christian Right Leadership
Table 3
2nd. Robert Simonds - Committee. Excellence in Education
3rd. Phyllis Schlafly - Eagle Forum
4th James Dobson - Focus on the Family
Strategies to respond to the NCR
Box 21352
Leheigh Valley, PA 18002-1352
(610) 838-2254
Table 4
Ranking of suggested "fairly successful" activities to effectively respond to the demands of the NCR.
2nd. Organize pro-active parental support groups.
3rd. Use resources of professional associations, i.e., AASA, Americans United, NEA, ASCD, American Library Assoc. and NASSP.
4th. Inform the community of agenda and motives of the NCR.
5th. Prepare written responses to the demands of the NCR.
6th. Create a forum to debate the issues promoted by the NCR.
7th. Ignore concerns of the NCR since it is such a small group.Perceptions of the NCR
Participants were asked their perceptions of the beliefs of the NCR. The Bible and beliefs related to the Bible were perceived to be the strongest factors in guiding the NCR. There was a fairly strong consistency among the regions of the USA about the perceptions of the NCR. Outcome Based Education (OBE) was the primary school reform issue that was perceived to be the major concern of the NCR. The lowest ranked descriptor of the NCR related to them being open minded and tolerant of other's points of view.
Table 5
1st. Believe there cannot be morality with the Bible.
2nd. Believe the world is divided between the saved and unsaved.
3rd. Believe OBE is an anti-intellectual and behavioristic strategy.
4th. Believe in conventional moral standards and traditions.
5th. Believe non-Christian people are in a conspiracy to take over schools.
6th. Believe issues are right or wrong, choice between God's will.
7th. Believe Lord's plan is to have public education controlled by Christians.
8th. Believe public schools cannot be saved, therefore private schools.
9th. Believed to be close minded and intolerant of another's point of view.
Community activities of the NCR
Table 6
1st. Values clarifications programs
2nd. Sex education programs
3rd. Outcome based education
4th. Self-esteem programs
5th. Emphasis on critical thinking skills
6th. AIDS or HIV education programs
7th. Multicultural programs
8th. Decision making skills
9th. Cooperative or small groups
10th. Whole language programs
11th. School-based health clinics
12th. Extended school year or day
13th. School-site based management.
Future issues in public education
Table 7
2nd. Talented teachers and administrators in public schools.
3rd. Citizens concerned enough to be involved in public education.
4th. Talented and astute school board members to make educational policy.
5th. Teachers and administrators concerned about the well being of public education.
6th. Talented and astute state educators concerned about public education.
7th. Concerned US House and Senate legislators protecting public education.
Summary
This report indicates that HML members are very concerned about the tactics and motives of the NCR. The NCR is attacking some sound school reform efforts (i.e., OBE, sex education, values clarification, etc.) That have a direct impact on the quality and mission of the public schools -- educational accountability and the health and well being of students.References:
Boston, R. (1994, April). Public schools under siege: How the Religious Right attacks public education. Americans United for Church & State 47(4).
About the authors:
Dr. Marilyn Grady is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln and a Member of the Horace Mann League.