GOP finds cure for bad public schools in Pennsylvania: God!
In Pennsylvania, the right slashed public education funds. Their solution for schools? "In God We Trust" plaques
TOPICS: PENNSYLVANIA, SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, GOP, CHURCH AND STATE, GOD, THE RIGHT,BUDGET CUTS, SUPREME COURT, POLITICS NEWS
(Credit: pastorscott, Gloda via iStock)
There’s no money for public schools in Pennsylvania, but, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, students are being told to accept it all bravely, cause God’s on their side.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Rick Saccone plans to introduce a bill this session that would require every public school building in the state to display a plaque that reads “In God We Trust.” If the badly underfunded schools can’t afford a plaque, the bill suggests, have the students draw it as part of an art project.
The measure is a tasteless and insulting slap in the face to educators across the state struggling to provide for the needs of children in the wake of massive cuts to education budgets. For the last three years schools have had to eliminate classes and extracurriculars, jam more students in crowded classrooms and operate with dangerous shortages of support staff like nurses and counselors. Maybe a state-imposed mandate to turn to God will help.
The ostensible purpose of the legislation “would be to promote patriotism through the display of the national motto and to educate children about an important but overlooked part of Pennsylvania’s heritage,” the lawmaker’s website proclaims, while Saccone expresses deep concern for citizens’ “lack of awareness” that the motto was first printed on coins during the Civil War era. As the bill points out, the director of the U.S. Mint at the time the language first appeared on two-cent pieces was James Pollack, who later became “The Great Christian Governor” of Pennsylvania.
“Many people don’t know what our motto is. Many adults don’t know what our national motto is, let alone our children,” Saccone told Philadelphia-based outlet Newsworks. “So it’s a good history lesson, it’s a good civics lesson, just like we honor the flag every day and say the Pledge of Allegiance.”
When asked about how schools will pay for the plaques, he suggests that teachers have students themselves create the religious decree.
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