AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
PRESS RELEASE
May 2, 2000

http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org


                   SENATE SHOULD NOT CREATE VOUCHERS
                       IN SCHOOL FUNDING DEBATE

    The U.S. Senate should not fund any voucher programs or other schemes
 to direct tax money to religious schools as it begins debate on the
Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act (S-2), said American
Atheists today.
    Ellen Johnson, President of the Atheist civil rights and state-church
separation group, warned against "voucher temptation" as an ineffective -
and unconstitutional - way of dealing with the nation's schools.
    "S-2 and other legislative schemes like the 'Straight A's' program would
hand over huge sums of public money to state governors, with little or no
control over how the funds are to be spent," Ms. Johnson warned.  "This is a
high-limit credit card - billed to the U.S. Taxpayer - for diverting money
from the public school system to sectarian schools."
    Ms. Johnson added that the biggest beneficiary of vouchers would be the
Vatican  school system.
    "Millions of Americans should not be forced to subsidize these sectarian
schools," Ms. Johnson said.
    The ESEA refunding bill would establish state programs and make "block
grants" available, presumably to help youngsters in poor areas.    "This has
little or nothing to do with helping the poor," Ms. Johnson said.  "It's all
about funding religious schools under the guise of promoting 'competition'
in education.
    Ron Barrier, National Spokesperson for American Atheists, said that
voucher schemes could end up distressing even their supporters.  "There is
no religious organization that would deny that schools are a unique part of
their ministry.  What S-2 will accomplish is nothing less than the
government granting itself the power to forcibly tax its citizens to support
religious outreaches - especially those ministries taxpayers would not
support voluntarily.  For instance, in the last two years, Saudi Arabia has
funded the building of several Islamic schools throughout the United States.
Bob Jones University is a primary supplier of textbooks to fundamentalist
and evangelical schools. Now Congress wants the American Taxpayer to pickup
the tab.
    "What happens if the Scientologists, or a Bob Jones, wanted to set up a
school and bill the taxpayers?  If a religion wants to set up a school, let
the adherents pay for it! No one is stopping them."
    "The government has no right to be a tax collector for religious
interests. Vouchers violate the constitutional separation of church and
state," Mr. Barrier warned.

For more information, please contact:
Ellen Johnson, President        (973)334-5110
Ron Barrier, Spokesperson       (718)967-6453

American Atheists, Inc.
P.O. Box 5733
Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733
Tel: (908)276-7300
Fax: (908)276-7402