Video: America’s Belief in God is Declining
A new Gallup survey finds belief in God is declining among Americans.
Of those people who do believe in God, many believe He does not hear or answer prayer.
Watch this video to learn more.
Home Schoolers in Arkansas Can File The Notice of Intent for the 2022-2023 School Year
Arkansans who plan to home school their children this fall have until August 15 to file the Notice of Intent form with their local public school superintendents.
Parents can print the Notice of Intent form and mail it or deliver it in person to their local public school superintendent’s office.
Parents also have the option of completing the Notice of Intent securely online at https://noihs.ade.arkansas.gov/.
Arkansas has seen an increased interest in home schooling since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year the U.S. Census Bureau reported the percentage of households home schooling in Arkansas jumped from 6.8% in spring of 2020 to 10.3% by the following fall.
All told, as many as one in ten families in Arkansas home schooled their children during the 2020-2021 school year.
Since then, home schooling has remained popular even as the pandemic has subsided and schools have reopened.
For 24 years Family Council’s home school division, the Education Alliance, has supported home schooling in Arkansas, because it gives families the flexibility to provide the education that’s right for their children.
If you are interested in home schooling in Arkansas this fall, please feel free to call our office at (501) 978-5503 today.
U.S. Supreme Court: Government Can’t Discriminate Against Students At Religious Schools
The following is a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom.
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2022
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in Carson v. Makin that the state of Maine cannot exclude students who attend religious schools from a government program in which they are otherwise qualified. Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom and Jones Day had argued for that result in a friend-of-the-court brief they filed on behalf of the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty.
Maine had prohibited families from using funds from a state tuition program—designed for students who don’t have access to a local public school—at private religious schools that incorporated a curricular faith perspective.
“When the government offers parents school choice, it can’t take away choices that are deemed ‘too religious’ or withhold funds from those who choose religious schools when the state offers those funds to everybody else,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch. “Today’s decision from the Supreme Court affirms our country’s abiding principle of religious liberty and, importantly, allows Maine parents the freedom to send their children to schools that align with their beliefs.”
The Supreme Court’s decision built upon its previous rulings in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, a case in which ADF attorneys successfully argued before the high court that a state may not discriminate against a religious school in awarding grants to improve playground safety.
“Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause,” the high court concluded, emphasizing that this does not mean that a state “must” fund religious education. “But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.” And this is true no matter whether the state disqualifies a school because of its religious status or because the school integrates religion into its curriculum. “Any attempt to give effect to such a distinction by scrutinizing whether and how a religious school pursues its educational mission would also raise serious concerns about state entanglement with religion and denominational favoritism.”
ADF attorneys are currently litigating similar cases involving Vermont officials discriminating against religious schools in E.W. v. French, A.M. v. French, and A.H. v. French. Jones Day attorneys Yaakov M. Roth, Anthony J. Dick, and Meredith Holland Kessler served as co-counsel for the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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