Catholic and other non-public schools across the country have been applying for and receiving EANS (Emergency Assistance for Nonpublic Schools) funding. EANS is a federally funded program that was created during Covid-19 to address a variety of issues that arose for non-public schools during the lockdowns, remote learning and the return to school process.
Many non-public schools purchased additional personal protective equipment (PPE), handwashing stations, cleaning supplies, technological devices for students, enhanced Wi-Fi capabilities, and curricular materials. On the surface, this all sounds innocuous and many argue that Catholic and other non-public schools should get a slice of the governmental pie just like their public counterparts.
The problem lies in this simple truth – nothing is free. Everything has a price and Catholic schools, in order to survive dwindling enrollments and budget shortfalls, have sold their soul and freedom to governmental agencies.
As with all federally funded grants, many stipulations are placed on the receiving organization. These dictates come in the form of equity measures that promote the ideologic agenda of the Marxist left Department of Education. EANS specifically addressed the so-called inequities experienced by some students during the pandemic.
Today it is just closing learning gaps, but tomorrow it may be the institution of a critical race theory or an LGBTQ curriculum all to address some perceived inequities. Catholic schools may be compelled to go against the traditional teachings of the Church and many are willing participants – all for money.
The purchase of PPE equipment from the federal grants ensured that the Catholic schools that reopened would follow all the guidelines of the CDC including the masking and social distancing of small children even isolating some of them behind plexiglass. The psychological damage done to these children in the name of health and safety has yet to be seen. In addition, many large dioceses around the country have enacted the draconian vaccine mandates pushed by the federal government forcing their employees either to get vaccinated or be tested weekly. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action for those faithful Catholic employees that are opposed to abortion tainted vaccines.
Catholic schools if they want to survive and remain true to their mission, must break the reliance of governmental agencies for funding. What ensues when they remain tethered is a form of public school lite where religion is taught for one period a day, but the rest of the curricula and instruction mirror exactly what you might find at your local public school. Secular textbooks in some cases provided as “loans” from state governmental agencies do not reflect the of true world view of traditional Catholic education. These secular textbooks are filled with propaganda and revisionist history that is unjustly critical of true Catholic history and philosophies that are atheist in nature. Topics like climate change, population control and communism are also intertwined with the pages of these textbooks. This subterfuge is seemingly under the radar and many parents have been unaware of what exactly is taught by Catholic teachers in Catholic schools.
It is well past time that Catholic schools cut the umbilical cord of governmental funding and return to teaching the truth and the one true faith.