Forum to examine Religious Right and education

Forum
to examine Religious Right and education
…………………………………………………………………

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News Staff

Conservative
Christians’ efforts to influence public education will
provide fodder for a panel discussion at the James A. Baker
III Institute for Public Policy Sept. 19.

Titled “To
Train Up a Child — Religious Conservatives and the
Struggle Over Schooling,” the forum is the first of
three presentations in this fall’s Harry and Hazel
Chavanne Lecture Series on Religion and Public Policy. Harry
Chavanne is a former Rice trustee who was instrumental in
building the Department of Religious Studies at Rice.

“In recent
years, the Religious Right has attempted to bring about
sweeping changes in American politics and public education,”
said William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Professor
of Religion and Public Policy in Rice’s Department
of Sociology and a senior scholar at the Baker Institute.

“They have
founded numerous private Christian schools, substantially
increased homeschooling and tried to gain control of local
and state school boards,” he said. “Some have
even tried to dismantle the public school system.”

Among the causes
and concerns of the Religious Right are vouchers that could
be used in private religious schools; opposition to the
teaching of evolution and promotion of creationist theories
of the universe and human life; opposition to sex education
that is not abstinence-based; greater emphasis on the important
role of religion in American history; and an emphasis on
traditional methods of education, such as phonics.

Martin, who
will serve as moderator for the forum, selected three panelists
who will be able to address a number of these important
issues.

Susan Rose,
professor and chair of sociology at Dickinson College, will
present “Christian Schooling: Fundamental, Alternative,
Diverse?”

She is the author
of two books on contemporary Evangelicalism: “Keeping
Them Out of the Hands of Satan: Christian Schooling in America”
and “Exporting the American Gospel: Global Christian
Fundamentalism.” She has served as a consultant and
participant on Public Broadcasting Service and National
Public Radio programs about fundamentalism.

David Sikkink
will present “Homeschooling 101: The Social Sources
and Implications of the Homeschooling Movement.” He
is an assistant professor of sociology and a fellow in the
Program on the Social Organizations of Schools at the University
of Notre Dame. As a National Academy of Education/Spencer
Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Sikkink is studying the
role of race and religion in shaping schooling choices for
children. He also is studying the role of schools, including
religious and homeschools, in fostering civic participation
among parents and students.

Bruce Biddle,
a social psychologist who is professor emeritus at the University
of Missouri, will present “Varieties of Conservative
Thought and Public Schooling.” Biddle is co-author
of “The Study of Teaching” and “The Manufactured
Crisis: Myths, Fraud and the Attack on America’s Public
Schools.” His current research involves the utilization
of educational research knowledge, the evil effects of poverty
and inadequate school funding within education and education
reform.

The program
will begin at 7 p.m. in James A. Baker III Hall and conclude
with a question-and-answer session. Rice students, faculty
and staff who plan to attend should R.S.V.P. to (713) 348-5794
by Sept. 17.