Private Schools want to discriminate.

 Private Schools Want to Discriminate

 

Private schools insist they are private and as such they have the right to discriminate.  That makes sense to me.   So private schools in Maryland openly refuse admission to children who are homosexual.  Some of the schools also do not accept the children of homosexuals regardless of the orientation of the children themselves.

Other schools say they admit children of color but in practice offer admission to few to no children of color.  Some openly say that they will admit children of color providing they are not expected to “lower academic standards to do so”.  

In higher education the discrimination is even more open.   Schools of the religious right argue that their religious beliefs forbid them from offering equal opportunity to gay and lesbian students. So they do not consider them for admission.   Organizations that support the rights of LBGQT students are not allowed to be official student organizations or have access to any of the student organization resources regardless of the orientation of the members.  Others do not allow students who are transgender to remain in the school.  

A national group, Teach Coalition, is ramping up to get local reimbursement for up to 50% of the health costs for their students.  The schools of Teach Coalition are religious right Jewish day schools.  These schools do not admit students of other faiths.

Is all this discrimination ok?  In my view absolutely.  After all- they are private institutions.
But are they really?   Baylor University, a school that openly discriminates against gay and lesbian students, receives upwards of 43 million U.S. tax dollars a year.  Other colleges and universities that are more overtly religious institutions also receive large amounts of tax dollars.  Private schools in Maryland receive state funds for books and other instructional materials.  

Non-public special education schools in Maryland must have clear non-discrimination policies as they should.  After all, they receive the bulk of their tuition from state tax dollars. 

Why are these other private schools allowed to freely discriminate while still eating heartily from the public trough?   I have no issue with private schools discriminating.  My issue is when they do it with the U.S. taxpayers dollars.   Discriminate all you want, just do it on your own dime not mine.