By Michael Evans
Calvary Chapel Academy, an ACSI member school in Cleveland, has been incredibly impacted by the recent Supreme Court decision stating that school vouchers, even when parents choose a religious school for their children, are constitutional. The impact is easily understood for a school in which almost eighty percent of the students are recipients of school vouchers. Last year the school had 60 students in grades K–5. With an added sixth-grade class and after the recent decision on vouchers, the school anticipates an increase in enrollment this year—possibly up to its full capacity of 105 students.
The school began in 1987 when a consortium of pastors led by Pastor James Maye, the administrator, founded the school. They desired an education for young people in their churches and the community in which Christian principles and values would be taught. An initial goal was always to make the tuition affordable so as not to exclude the families they desired to serve. The voucher program certainly helps to make this goal possible. The school’s tuition of $2,500 is subsidized from 75 to 90 percent for those students who are in the voucher program.
Principal Yolanda Stone, who works with Pastor Maye at Calvary, is full of gratitude for God’s provision through the voucher program. She recounts the story of a grandmother who has taken in four of her grandchildren and was sacrificing to pay full tuition for Christian schooling. Now, as a participant in the voucher program, this grandmother is receiving the assistance needed to keep her family in a Christian school. Tameko Brown is another grateful mother whose children are benefiting from the services of Calvary as a result of the Cleveland voucher program (see The Voice That Counts: A Parent’s Perspective this issue).
Calvary has been involved in the voucher program for the past five years, joining with Cleveland Catholic schools and with groups in Washington, DC, advocating for religious freedom. When asked whether he was concerned about accepting government funds for fear of possible “strings attached,” Pastor Maye explained that their school has been able to maintain all its distinctive Christian qualities in curriculum, hiring practices, standards for students, and direct biblical training in Bible classes and chapel programs. In fact, Calvary’s commitment to pledge allegiance each morning to the Christian flag and the Bible was a component of the argument brought before the Supreme Court.
The voucher program is not without accountability, however. While the school is free to design its educational program to match its mission, the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, the agency that monitors the voucher program for the state, visits the school to ensure that the teachers are certified, the curriculum is current and of good quality, and the facility is conducive for learning. Pastor Maye and Principal Stone both appreciate this level of accountability as it continues to push their school toward excellence in all they do.
Contrary to what some might think, the Cleveland voucher program does not solve all the financial problems for Calvary and other Christian schools in urban Cleveland. First, there is a tuition cap of $2,500 for voucher schools. This restriction leaves Calvary with the need to raise 30 to 35 percent of the budget annually and the inability to increase salaries and make capital improvements at the speed the school desires. Also, the demand for scholarships far outweighs the number of scholarships available. Families apply for the scholarships, are ranked in priority order by income, and then participate in a lottery system that assigns the limited scholarships available. Not all families have the privilege of choice. Lastly, the surge of charter schools stands in competition with the Christian schools—even those that participate in the voucher program. While the voucher program provides a huge discount off the Christian school tuition, that benefit cannot compare in some parents’ minds to paying no tuition at all to attend a charter school. Even some Christian schools in Cleveland have become charter schools; they receive more money per pupil than they would under the voucher program, but those schools are unable to teach biblical principles as intentionally.
ACSI looks forward to assisting Calvary Chapel Academy and other schools in Cleveland as navigate through the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision. It is ACSI’s desire that other decisions similar to this ruling will be made throughout the nation to support parents’ choice in the education of their children while enabling schools to remain Christ-centered in all they do and teach.
The Meantime Volume 2 Number 1