The Denver Post

Douglas County school board election is all about Blaine

- By Samuel J. Aquila and Michael J. Sheridan

In our current political culture of tweets, sound bites and polling trends that change in the blink of an eye, it’s hard to imagine that any political proposal by a failed candidate would have a lasting impact, let alone one that continues nearly 150 years later. But this is exactly the scenario we find ourselves in today, thanks to the political aspiration­s of James G. Blaine for the U.S. presidency in 1876.

And yet Blaine’s legacy haunts us today, as we see in the upcoming school board race in Douglas County.

Despite being raised Catholic, Blaine sensed that he could win the presidency by tapping into a wave of anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant sentiment with a proposed constituti­onal amendment that would block public funding of “sectarian” schools, a term that was primarily used for Catholic schools.

Blaine failed to win the presidenti­al nomination, but his idea caught on, and thus Colorado and 37 other states have discrimina­tory “Blaine Amendments” in their constituti­ons that to this day discrimina­te against people of faith and limit parents’ ability to choose the best education for their children.

To really understand the Blaine Amendments, it’s necessary to understand the background of the time. In the late 1870s, our country was largely a Protestant nation that feared the influence that relatively large groups of German, Irish and Italian Catholic immigrants would have on the U.S.

One area where this fear was particular­ly pronounced was education, which at the time was heavily influenced by a kind of generic Protestant faith. Public schools were viewed as places that formed the moral and civic values of the next generation, and consequent­ly, the curriculum included Protestant prayers, reading from the King James Bible, and singing hymns.

Lawmakers who were eager to seize upon the public animosity towards the immigrant population and the fear of Catholics tried to boost their political fortunes by introducin­g legislatio­n that prohibited public funding of “sectarian” schools. Rep. Blaine saw this issue as his path to power, and so he introduced a measure in the U.S. House that sailed through by a vote of 180-7, but barely missed the required twothirds majority in the Senate.

Although this move failed to win Blaine the Republican presidenti­al nomination, Congress did mandate that any state received into the Union after 1876 needed to have a similar provision in its constituti­on.

Today, these amendments have created a double standard for Catholics and other people of faith, who pay taxes just like everyone else but are forced to either choose a public school or forfeit the benefit of their taxes and pay for a faith-based education.

This double standard flies in the face of the U.S. Constituti­on’s First Amendment, which explicitly states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishm­ent of religion, or prohibitin­g the free exercise thereof.” For many of the families who desire a faith-based education, this financial penalty is prohibitiv­e. Correcting this discrimina­tory policy would not establish a religion but instead would allow people of any faith to freely exercise their faith.

Almost 150 years later, this contradict­ion in our laws is coming to a head in the Douglas County school board election. According to projection­s, this school board race will be the most closely watched in the country, since the outcome will decide if the district continues its court battle for the voucher program it introduced in 2011. Should supporters of school choice be elected, the case will likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. If opponents of school choice win, then the case will be dropped.

Regardless of whether you are a person of faith or not, this type of discrimina­tion in our state laws should not be allowed to stand. If you are eligible to vote in the upcoming Douglas County school board race, we urge you to vote in favor of school choice and help ensure people of faith are treated fairly. Mac Tully, CEO and Publisher; Justin Mock, Senior VP of Finance and CFO; Bill Reynolds, Senior VP, Circulatio­n and Production; Judi Patterson, Vice President, Human Resources; Bob Kinney , Vice President, Informatio­n Technology

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