Aid to Schools

[Ed Darrell]

In a message dated 97-04-19 16:45:40 EDT, dlaycock at MAIL.LAW.UTEXAS.EDU
(Douglas Laycock) writes:

<<         Does anyone know of a published account of the evangelical change
in
 position on aid to religious schools.  When aid to religious schools was
 only a Catholic issue, I assume that evangelicals were among the most
 vociferously opposed.  This was still a Catholic issue when Lemon was
 decided.  My impression is that when evangelical schools began appearing in
 large numbers, the dominant issue was resistance to government regulation,
 not government financial aid.  It seems to me fairly recent -- probably well
 into the eighties -- that financial aid to religious schools became a big
 issue for evangelicals.

         I think the big picture described in the previous paragraph is
 basically right.  I am hazy on the timing of the transition.  And of course
 I have a student editor who won't take my word for anything, and wants me to
 cite something for the proposition that this was still a Catholic issue in
 1971.  Any ideas? >>

One single published account I cannot give.  My recollection is that this was
solely a Catholic during my first pass through Senate staff in 1975 -- when
school busing was a hot issue for debate.  When I rejoined Senate staff in
1979 it was changing, and I would bet you could find confirmation of the
change in the Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Change," which was published
first in late 1980.  If I recall correctly the chapter on education was
written by Ron Docksai, himself Catholic, but also a past president of the
Young Republicans and self-styled young turk.  Docksai was close to William
F. Buckley and a key organizer of the New Right.  He had achieved some
prominence on the staff of Maryland Republican Rep. Bob Bauman, but in 1977
he moved to the Senate Labor Committee staff of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.  When
Hatch became chairman in 1981, Docksai was staff director.  Although
education was not his forte necessarily, Docksai had been drafted by the
Heritage group to write the education chapter.

The two big issues that brought Catholics and Protestants together were
school busing and abortion.  School busing put conservative Protestants into
the "religious" school business, which suddenly opened their eyes to the
wisdom of school vouchers; abortion brought them together politically, and
they discovered they could work together.

My 1970 Fourth Edition of Kelly and Harbison's The American Constitution
mentions a series of bills introduced by Rep. Ralph Barden of North Carolina
in the late 1940s.  The bills would have given large-scale grants-in-aid to
public schools -- they were defeated in part by Catholic opposition to a
provision that barred aid to Catholic schools.  Eleanor Roosevelt commended
thhis feature in the 1949 bill as securing the separation of church and
state, and Cardinal Spellman accused her publicly of helping anti-Catholic
sentiment.

Can you cite the Barden bills, then cite the position in Mandate for Change?

My next best idea would be to call the Education Department's Mr.
Know-it-All, Dr. Vance Grant, at 800-224-1616.  While technically he is the
master of statistical data, he has provided me with useful historical
background on a number of education issues over the years.  He's past
retirement age, but was still there giving out the data when I last checked
in September.

Good luck,

Ed Darrell
Duncanville, Texas