The History of CAP
The Council About Parochiaid (CAP)-legally, the Council of Organizations and Others for Education About Parochiaid-organized in the late 1960's in response to efforts to allocate state money to support non-public schools. In 1968, the Michigan chapter of a national organization, the Citizens for Educational Freedom, had organized a letter campaign to legislators encouraging the use of public funds for nonpublic schools, with most of the funding presumably directed towards religiously based schools, often called parochial schools. The use of public dollars for private education is call "parochiaid".
At that time CAP was comprised of a mixture of school, labor, and civil liberties organizations, as well as religious groups such as the Methodist Church Conference, concerned about the impact of public dollars on religious practice and on public education. Although its exact membership has varied over time, CAP's membership has consistently represented a similar mixture of organizations and individuals, all concerned about the use of funding private, religiously based education with public dollars, although sometimes for somewhat different reasons.
CAP has been fortunate to be headed over the years by strong leaders who have included State Board of Education member Kathleen Straus, representing the Michigan Association of School Boards at the time of her presidency; Georgene Campbell, out of the Michigan Parent Teachers Association, who went on to be the co-chair of the anti-voucher campaign, All Kids First!, Judy Rosenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Barbara Bonsignore of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of Michigan, Sandra York, Executive Director of Michigan PTA and now, Lois Lofton Doniver representing AFT-MI. However, the true strength of CAP over the years has been its consistency as a coalition in opposing the use of public funds for non-public schools.
Arguments for parochiaid and its causes of political popularity over the years have, on the other hand, been less consistent. Initial support seemed to emanate largely out of concerns that Roman Catholic schools needed state support or they would all close. Catholic schools in Michigan, as elsewhere, were transitioning to the use of lay teachers around this time. The initial legislation introduced to provide public funds for nonpublic schools came from heavily Catholic Bay City and was sponsored by then State Representative Bob Traxler.
Although the Legislature was not successful, it caught the eye of Governor William G. Milliken, who was facing his first statewide election after having assumed office when Governor Romney joined the Nixon administration. Perhaps seeking support from Catholic Democrats for his election, the Governor proposed appropriating $22 million for each of two years to pay part of the salaries of private school lay teachers teaching secular subjects; in the third year, the funding was to be increased to cover 75% of their costs.
Despite having the support of the House Speaker, William Ryan, a Detroit Democrat with strong ties to both the Catholic Church and urban areas where parochial schools were more numerous, Governor Milliken's proposal ended up being more controversial than anticipated. CAP responded by starting a petition drive on behalf of a constitutional amendment to ban the use of public funds for non public schools. CAP was successful in getting signatures for the petitions and in passing the constitutional provisions in the General Elections held in 1970. Of the nearly 2.5 million votes cast, the anti-parochiaid amendment was adopted with a margin of 338,098 votes.
The new constitutional language that remains in the current state constitution reads as follows:
At that time CAP was comprised of a mixture of school, labor, and civil liberties organizations, as well as religious groups such as the Methodist Church Conference, concerned about the impact of public dollars on religious practice and on public education. Although its exact membership has varied over time, CAP's membership has consistently represented a similar mixture of organizations and individuals, all concerned about the use of funding private, religiously based education with public dollars, although sometimes for somewhat different reasons.
CAP has been fortunate to be headed over the years by strong leaders who have included State Board of Education member Kathleen Straus, representing the Michigan Association of School Boards at the time of her presidency; Georgene Campbell, out of the Michigan Parent Teachers Association, who went on to be the co-chair of the anti-voucher campaign, All Kids First!, Judy Rosenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Barbara Bonsignore of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of Michigan, Sandra York, Executive Director of Michigan PTA and now, Lois Lofton Doniver representing AFT-MI. However, the true strength of CAP over the years has been its consistency as a coalition in opposing the use of public funds for non-public schools.
Arguments for parochiaid and its causes of political popularity over the years have, on the other hand, been less consistent. Initial support seemed to emanate largely out of concerns that Roman Catholic schools needed state support or they would all close. Catholic schools in Michigan, as elsewhere, were transitioning to the use of lay teachers around this time. The initial legislation introduced to provide public funds for nonpublic schools came from heavily Catholic Bay City and was sponsored by then State Representative Bob Traxler.
Although the Legislature was not successful, it caught the eye of Governor William G. Milliken, who was facing his first statewide election after having assumed office when Governor Romney joined the Nixon administration. Perhaps seeking support from Catholic Democrats for his election, the Governor proposed appropriating $22 million for each of two years to pay part of the salaries of private school lay teachers teaching secular subjects; in the third year, the funding was to be increased to cover 75% of their costs.
Despite having the support of the House Speaker, William Ryan, a Detroit Democrat with strong ties to both the Catholic Church and urban areas where parochial schools were more numerous, Governor Milliken's proposal ended up being more controversial than anticipated. CAP responded by starting a petition drive on behalf of a constitutional amendment to ban the use of public funds for non public schools. CAP was successful in getting signatures for the petitions and in passing the constitutional provisions in the General Elections held in 1970. Of the nearly 2.5 million votes cast, the anti-parochiaid amendment was adopted with a margin of 338,098 votes.
The new constitutional language that remains in the current state constitution reads as follows:
State Constitution: Article VIII Education (excerpt)
§ 2 Free public elementary and secondary schools; discrimination. Sec. 2. The legislature shall maintain and support a system of free public elementary and secondary schools as defined by law. Every school district shall provide for the education of its pupils without discrimination as to religion, creed, race, color or national origin. No public monies or property shall be appropriated or paid or any public credit utilized, by the legislature or any other political subdivision or agency of the state directly or indirectly to aid or maintain any private, denominational or other nonpublic, pre-elementary, elementary, or secondary school. No payment, credit, tax benefit, exemption or deductions, tuition voucher, subsidy, grant or loan of public monies or property shall be provided, directly or indirectly, to support the attendance of any student or the employment of any person at any such nonpublicschool or at any location or institution where instruction is offered in whole or in part to such nonpublic school students. The legislature may provide for the transportation of students to and from any schools.
The campaign has not been easy. CAP's efforts had been opposed by the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Michigan Association for Non-Public Schools, the Christian Reformed Schools, and the Michigan Federation of the Council for Educational Freedom. The Michigan Catholic Conference issued a pre-election news release predicting that most of the state's over 500 Catholic schools would close if Proposal C were approved. Attorney General Frank Kelley claimed that the petitions were flawed but then was overruled by the Michigan Court of Appeals. Kelley also issued opinions for the State Board of Education holding that shared time and auxiliary services would be eliminated if the measure passed. Both Governor Milliken and State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Porter issued statements claiming that the proposed amendment would do such things as end drivers' education for non-public schools, jeopardize the property tax exemption for nonpublic schools and possibly even preclude private schools from getting police and fire protection.
The campaign even played into the gubernatorial campaign between Milliken and Democratic State Senator Sander Levin. When Levin, like Milliken, announced his opposition for the anti-parochiaid ban, some analysts believe it may have decreased the ardor of Levin's supporters, including the Michigan Education Association. Meanwhile, the State Supreme Court ruled that the use of $22 million for parochial schoolteachers' salaries was constitutional in a four to two decision; this decision was reversed in 1971, with the court then holding that the people had decided the issue when Proposal C was approved. At this point, less than half of the $22 million had been appropriated.
CAP's next big test came in 1978. At this time, support for parochiaid came from a slightly different angle, the perspective of parental choice, in contrast to support in the 1960's which had come in part from concerns that non-public schools would close en masse and that closing nonpublic schools would result in overcrowding of public schools. Voucher supporters claimed that their proposal did not violate the First Amendment since the tax benefits adhered to the parents of the non-public school children, not to the school itself. CAP's response to this argument was that the impact of the aid, as expressed by the U.S Supreme Court decision in Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist (413 U.S. 756, 1973) was "unmistakably to provide desired financial support for non-public, sectarian institutions."
CAP and its 21 member organizations at this time vigorously and successfully opposed this proposal, known as "Proposal H". Proposal H was resoundingly defeated at the polls by a vote of 2,075,583 to 718,440. The proposal did not prevail in a single Michigan county, despite the fact that the Catholic Conference strongly supported the proposal, and more than a few counties had populations of 70% or greater from the Roman Catholic community. This particular election was a contentious one for supporters of public schools, given that several other controversial ballot proposals with an impact on property taxes, then the major source of public school funding, were also on the ballot at the time. The most recent electoral challenge to CAP's chief goal came with the Proposal 00-1 Ballot proposal in the General Election of 2000. Proponents of Proposal 00-1 attempted to sell their proposal as "pro-child" as the name "Kids First! Yes!" suggested. While the early efforts to pass parochiaid appeared mostly driven by institutions that were seeking funding to sustain their current mission, the driving support for "Kids First! Yes!" seemed more ideological in nature. Possibly for that reason, the campaign fared far less well in urban areas than anticipated by many political commentators. For instance, in Detroit, with numerous Catholic Schools, the vote was 48,024 for Proposal 00-1 and 219,862 against it with a total of 267,886 people voting. The final outcome was again a success for supporters of separation of church and state, with only 1,235,533 votes for the measure statewide, and 2,767,320 against from the 4,002,853 votes cast. CAP's role in the measure was to be the base from which the campaign began. The leadership of CAP provided core leadership for the campaign organization, which benefited enormously from the support of a long-standing coalition of individuals and organizations. The anti-Proposal 00-1 Campaign was a separate organization, seeking to defeat the proposition on behalf of "All Kids First."
As the history indicates, CAP has had certain time periods in which opponents of public funds for private education face serious challenges. During the "down" times, however, members of CAP continue to meet to monitor legislation, lawsuits, and the political scene. CAP had, for example, initiated related litigation against the Noah Webster Charter Academy in 1994-5. CAP firmly believes it is in the interest of its cause to maintain an ongoing coalition that can quickly spring into action whenever challenges arise, even though the nature of the challenges may vary over time.
Sources of information:
The campaign has not been easy. CAP's efforts had been opposed by the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Michigan Association for Non-Public Schools, the Christian Reformed Schools, and the Michigan Federation of the Council for Educational Freedom. The Michigan Catholic Conference issued a pre-election news release predicting that most of the state's over 500 Catholic schools would close if Proposal C were approved. Attorney General Frank Kelley claimed that the petitions were flawed but then was overruled by the Michigan Court of Appeals. Kelley also issued opinions for the State Board of Education holding that shared time and auxiliary services would be eliminated if the measure passed. Both Governor Milliken and State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Porter issued statements claiming that the proposed amendment would do such things as end drivers' education for non-public schools, jeopardize the property tax exemption for nonpublic schools and possibly even preclude private schools from getting police and fire protection.
The campaign even played into the gubernatorial campaign between Milliken and Democratic State Senator Sander Levin. When Levin, like Milliken, announced his opposition for the anti-parochiaid ban, some analysts believe it may have decreased the ardor of Levin's supporters, including the Michigan Education Association. Meanwhile, the State Supreme Court ruled that the use of $22 million for parochial schoolteachers' salaries was constitutional in a four to two decision; this decision was reversed in 1971, with the court then holding that the people had decided the issue when Proposal C was approved. At this point, less than half of the $22 million had been appropriated.
CAP's next big test came in 1978. At this time, support for parochiaid came from a slightly different angle, the perspective of parental choice, in contrast to support in the 1960's which had come in part from concerns that non-public schools would close en masse and that closing nonpublic schools would result in overcrowding of public schools. Voucher supporters claimed that their proposal did not violate the First Amendment since the tax benefits adhered to the parents of the non-public school children, not to the school itself. CAP's response to this argument was that the impact of the aid, as expressed by the U.S Supreme Court decision in Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist (413 U.S. 756, 1973) was "unmistakably to provide desired financial support for non-public, sectarian institutions."
CAP and its 21 member organizations at this time vigorously and successfully opposed this proposal, known as "Proposal H". Proposal H was resoundingly defeated at the polls by a vote of 2,075,583 to 718,440. The proposal did not prevail in a single Michigan county, despite the fact that the Catholic Conference strongly supported the proposal, and more than a few counties had populations of 70% or greater from the Roman Catholic community. This particular election was a contentious one for supporters of public schools, given that several other controversial ballot proposals with an impact on property taxes, then the major source of public school funding, were also on the ballot at the time. The most recent electoral challenge to CAP's chief goal came with the Proposal 00-1 Ballot proposal in the General Election of 2000. Proponents of Proposal 00-1 attempted to sell their proposal as "pro-child" as the name "Kids First! Yes!" suggested. While the early efforts to pass parochiaid appeared mostly driven by institutions that were seeking funding to sustain their current mission, the driving support for "Kids First! Yes!" seemed more ideological in nature. Possibly for that reason, the campaign fared far less well in urban areas than anticipated by many political commentators. For instance, in Detroit, with numerous Catholic Schools, the vote was 48,024 for Proposal 00-1 and 219,862 against it with a total of 267,886 people voting. The final outcome was again a success for supporters of separation of church and state, with only 1,235,533 votes for the measure statewide, and 2,767,320 against from the 4,002,853 votes cast. CAP's role in the measure was to be the base from which the campaign began. The leadership of CAP provided core leadership for the campaign organization, which benefited enormously from the support of a long-standing coalition of individuals and organizations. The anti-Proposal 00-1 Campaign was a separate organization, seeking to defeat the proposition on behalf of "All Kids First."
As the history indicates, CAP has had certain time periods in which opponents of public funds for private education face serious challenges. During the "down" times, however, members of CAP continue to meet to monitor legislation, lawsuits, and the political scene. CAP had, for example, initiated related litigation against the Noah Webster Charter Academy in 1994-5. CAP firmly believes it is in the interest of its cause to maintain an ongoing coalition that can quickly spring into action whenever challenges arise, even though the nature of the challenges may vary over time.
Sources of information:
- Council of Organizations and Others for Education About Parochiaid. Background on Vouchers and Parochiaid. 1978.
- Council of Organizations and Others for Education About Parochiaid. 1995.
- Longstaff, Robert H. Public Sector Consultants, Inc. Public Money for Private Education: the Ghost of 1970. Lansing, 1993.
- Welburn, Dan Parochiaid in Michigan: 1960 to present, Michigan Council About Parochiaid. 1978.
- www.michigan.gov/sos "2000 Official Michigan General Election Results State Proposal 00-1: To Permit the State to Indirectly Support Nonpublic School Students" (3 June 2002).
