Should Anti-Gay Catholic Schools Lose Taxpayer Funding?

Anti-gay Archbishop Charles C. Thompson.

A recent blog post looked at a case where a Jesuit run high school in Indiana defied the dictates of the anti-gay diocesan archbishop who ordered a gay teacher in a same sex marriage be fired. Since the school is operated b the Jesuit order, it is technically not under the thumb of the bigoted local archbishop.  Other Catholic schools in the diocese are not so lucky and in the case of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, the school administration knuckled under to the bishop's demands and fired a gay teacher. That action has lead to protests outside the archdiocese's offices and now, some members of the state legislature want the schools to lose taxpayer funding under a principle that to me and many others is very simple: if you tax taxpayer money, you do not get to discriminate against any segment of the taxpaying public.  It is the same theory that has seen Catholic adoption and foster agencies in other states lose funding due to their refusal to not discriminate against gays and non-Catholics.  A piece in the Indianapolis Star looks at the controversy and why taking taxpayer funding from Catholic schools in Indiana is justified.  Here are highlights:

When Cathedral High School fired a gay teacher last week over his same-sex marriage, it renewed a long-simmering debate about public money that goes to private schools in the form of taxpayer-funded scholarships.

The school, which has said it was forced by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to terminate the teacher or lose its status as a Catholic institution, has received more than $6 million from the state over the last six years through Indiana’s “choice scholarship” program.

Indiana began offering “choice scholarships” in 2011 to help low-income families afford a private education. It’s now the country’s largest such voucher program, directing more than $134 million to private schools last year.

“Again, we see a public institution engaged in an obvious act of discrimination because of sexual identity,” said Democratic Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, Indiana’s House minority leader, “but we do not have to sit by and watch this happen.  “I do not feel that the people of Indiana should be financially supporting discrimination against faculty, staff or students at any school.”

Last year, the case of a gay guidance counselor losing her job at Roncalli High School because of her same-sex marriage led to calls for anti-discrimination strings on voucher money.

Several lawmakers filed bills that would have required private schools that participate in the state’s voucher program to have non-discriminatory hiring practices in place. Those efforts failed, though.

With a supermajority in both chambers of the Statehouse, Republicans can block any legislation they choose. As recently as last week, House Speaker Brian Bosma said he continues to support the voucher program, as is. At that time, Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray declined to comment.

Supporters of the program in its current form argue that putting restrictions on the practices of participating schools would harm the “uniqueness” of those institutions, the vast majority of which are religious.

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is one of the largest benefactors of the program. The 67 schools under the purview of the archdiocese that participated last year received close to $40 million from the state. If they made up a public school district, it would be in the top 50 for receiving state funds, out of about 300.

The archdiocese began requiring all contracts to include the “morality clause” four years ago. It was extended to independent Catholic schools, like Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School and Cathedral, two years ago. Gina Fleming, superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese, said similar language was in place even before the current language was mandated.

That’s the language that led Cathedral to fire one of its teachers who is in a same-sex marriage. Brebeuf refused to fire a gay teacher in a same-sex marriage. The Indianapolis archdiocese is no longer recognizing Brebeuf as a Catholic school.

Brebeuf has received more than $1.7 million in the last six years through the voucher program. Roncalli, where two gay guidance counselors have now filed discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has received more than $8 million.

The issue has split the Catholic community in Indianapolis. While many parishioners are backing the church, others are outraged at what they see as a targeting of gay people. More than 200 Cathedral students and alumni protested in front of the archdiocese last week, urging Archbishop Charles C. Thompson to reconsider the prohibition of gay married people working in Catholic schools.

Cardinal Ritter and Scecina Memorial, two other high schools within the archdiocese, are among the top voucher-receiving private schools in the state. Each has taken in more than $9 million since 2013. During that same period, schools within the Archdiocese of Indianapolis have received a total nearly $190 million.

$190 million in taxpayer funding - on top of the institutions receiving tax-exempt status which means they are being indirectly funded by the taxpaying public as well.  The irony is that without the ability to gorge themselves at the taxpayer money trough, a number of these discriminatory schools would go out of business because many in the public don't want the bigotry and embrace of ignorance they are peddling. One can only hope that in time Democrats gain enough seats to reverse this outrageous program.