President Joe Biden recently announced that free preschool will be offered. However, federal funds will not be available without strings attached. This includes a mandated LGBTQ activist curriculum.
The White House’s “Fact Sheet” on the $1.75 Trillion Build Back Better social-policy plan states:
President Biden’s plan provides free preschool for all children aged 3 and 4. It gives parents access to high-quality programs in any setting they choose, including schools, child care providers, community-based organizations, Head Start, and other institutions.
It was noted that concerns expressed by faith-based groups providing early childhood care are being addressed, with the note that the bill’s “nondiscrimination provisions” could “disqualify certain religious organizations, which provide over half of the child care programs in the United States.”
According to the Bipartisan Policy Centre, 53% of working-parent families used a program that was affiliated with a faith group for childcare.
Faith-based organizations are in a strong position. They are able to build a solid infrastructure and know the needs of their communities. Leaders of faith are uniquely placed to provide information and advocate for families and children about child care. Faith-based organizations can influence the perceptions and experience of early education and care, whether they are operating a child daycare center or hosting a colocated program.
The House approved the bill, but strong opposition erupted to the promise of federal money in return for a radical leftwing curriculum that was disguised as “equity” and “nondiscrimination.”
For example, centers run by large Orthodox Jewish groups and the Catholic Church say that if the bill is passed, they will have to decide whether to accept federal childcare dollars or continue to teach the tenets of their respective faiths and hire staff who share their beliefs.
Jennifer Daniels, associate director for policy at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that it would be detrimental to our ability and impact our ability to stay with our Catholic mission through a variety of means.
The USCCB wrote to Congress to express concern about several provisions of the Build Back Better Act. Some of the provisions are inconsistent with their principles regarding religious liberty and early childhood education. This will effectively ban many faith-based providers (or continue participation in existing state-based programs), severely restricting options for families and suppressing mixed delivery systems.
This is a shift from funding these programs via block grants to the states to funding them directly through federal programs. Here’s the difference. There were many organizations, including ministries and Christian organizations, that participated in the funding of these programs through block grants. This meant they were not covered by the federal government’s nondiscrimination requirements. The change suggested here is not accidental.
It is very deliberate. It is an intentional effort. Some on the political left are demanding it. This intentional effort is an effort to bring all these programs under the moral revolution mandated federally. This means that religious institutions or religious organizations will not be allowed to operate these schools in accordance with their beliefs, particularly when it comes down to the gender and the sexual morality revolution, and the whole array of issues, which is most commonly summarized as LGBTQ.
Rep. Bobby Scott (VA), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and Education and Labor Committee chairman, said that no federal dollars should be given to religious groups that “discriminate.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty and Scott said that they disagree with the Biden Act’s prohibition on government-funded discrimination in employment and in the provision of services to participants in publicly funded programs.
They stated that they do not believe it is right to allow discrimination funded with public money collected from all taxpayers. They asked for opposition to any attempt to change or remove the nondiscrimination provisions in Biden’s child care and universal pre-school provisions.
Zack Pruitt, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, observed that the House approved the bill and that it showed “congressional Dems once more made clear how aligned there are with the radical Left”
The bill requires taxpayers not only to pay for an abortion but could also “force faith-based childcare providers from the system.”
Pruitt warned that funding provisions in the bill and new grant programs are likely to exclude many faith-based providers of childcare. They urged the Senate not to vote for these harmful provisions. Instead, they urged it to support policies that would protect life and religious freedom and allow parents to direct the education of their children.
Mohler also warned against indifference towards the concerns of faith groups while the Senate considered the legislation. This would, in essence, require “pushing everybody in line with the new LGBTQ Revolution.” He stated that it was not about his religion or favorite institution or his interest, but the coercive power and authority of the state which goes far beyond the details of this type of program.
