This week I had the opportunity to attend the National Public Policy and Advocacy Summit in Washington D.C. During the summit I was able to engage with some of our nations top leaders and thinkers on the ideals of faith based education and top political issues. Additionally, I was able to advocate for specific bills at the Capitol with U.S. Senator Boozeman and U.S. Congressman Womack.
Why does this matter? We have to be very wary of what language is being inserted into various bills regarding gender identity, title 9, school choice, federal financial assistance definitions, religious liberty, and charitable contributions. We as Christian School Leaders must insert ourselves into the political arena. Gone are the days where can sit back and trust that policy will maintain our religious liberties. We all must get off the bench and get in the game. We must remember that the “pen” has significant power and its ink is driven by our voices.
Each of the topics above can have specific implications to faith based schools. Each year I work with ACSI's Public Policy and Advocacy Division to ensure that our Senators and Congressmen understand particular language in certain bills and the impact of the language. We are blessed with stances that our politicians from Arkansas have taken on the subject areas listed above. However, the subjects listed above are not overt in how the language is presented in various bills. That is why it is imperative that school leaders look at both the state and federal bills that pertain to the subject above because we want to ensure that nothing gets past our Arkansas political teams.
The pieces of legislature that are important to help protect rights and liberties at the Federal level are:
Safe Guarding Charity Act (good)
Family Rights and Responsibility Act (good)
Educational Choice For Children Act (good)
Over the next two weeks I will talk about a few of the main points from Dr. Ben Carson and Dr. Carl Trueman from the Summit.
Lead NWA well this week!
- Dr. Keith McDaniel
