Report Questions Public Funding for Hebron Christian, Other Schools With 'Anti-Gay' Policies

Some scholarship money generated through a Georgia tax credit program has been used at religious schools that ban gay, lesbian and bisexual students, according to a report released this month.

One of the schools mentioned in the report from the Southern Education Foundation, is Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula.

According to the report, "Hebron Christian Academy (with approximately 1,000  students) in Dacula, Georgia cites Biblical passage for warning against a 'violation of the unique roles of male and female,' and states that all 'employees and students will maintain a lifestyle based on Biblical standards of conduct at all times. Failure to do so may result in reprimand, or in some cases, dismissal of the employee or student.' " 

The Southern Education Foundation does not take issue with the policies of the schools. They have a constitutional right to believe whatever they want to believe and to operate their private affairs in accordance with those beliefs, the foundation said.

But schools that "exclude, condemn, and demonize students for who they are and who they accept in their lives" should not receive public funds, the foundation wrote in its report. "Tax dollars should go to schools that educate all students. That is the promise and virtue of our democracy."

Legislators in 2008 established a tax credit program to allow individual and corporate taxpayers to contribute to qualified student scholarship organizations and receive a dollar-for-dollar credit against their Georgia income tax liabilities. SSOs provide the funds to private schools for all or part of a student’s tuition.

While the amounts awarded to each school are unknown, more than $170 million in taxpayer funds have been set aside to cover the tuition costs of students in private schools during the last four years.

And the Southern Education Foundation knows of at least 115 private schools in the tax credit scholarship program that have severe anti-gay policies or belong to state and national private school associations that promote anti-gay policies, according to the report.

"Altogether, as much as one-third of all private schools participating in Georgia’s tax credit scholarship program may be governed by the schools’ explicit anti-gay policies or their church’s anti-gay statements of faith," according to the report.

And that count, according to the report, is likely an understatement.

Click here to read the full report from the Southern Education Foundation. It is also attached to this article as a PDF. Click here to read about other metro Atlanta schools listed in the report.

Should public money be used to assist needy families who want to send their children to private schools with explicit anti-gay policies? Tell us in the comment box below.

You might also be interested in reading:

• Mill Creek Remains Largest High School in Gwinnett
• Dacula Area Teachers of the Year Announced
• Three Mill Creek Students Qualify As National Merit Semifinalists
• Dacula Middle School Student Facing Criminal Charge After Allegedly Making Threatening Statements
• Gwinnett County Public Schools Winter Break Begins Dec. 20
• Duncan Creek Elementary School Teacher Named Southeastern Art Educator of the Year