Friend,

The rest of my email can wait: You should read AU’s new analysis of the billions of federal COVID relief dollars funneled to private religious schools right away: [link removed]

Just released today, our analysis of the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) reveals that huge sums of federal funds were given to private and religious schools – as much as $6.47 billion.

The recipients of these coronavirus relief funds, which were meant to help small businesses pay workers, include some of the wealthiest private schools in the country, as well as private schools that discriminate against students. In serious violation of the principle of church-state separation, at least 5,691 private religious schools received forgivable loans – which are, essentially, government grants.

Click here to read AU’s full report on the funding of private religious schools with PPP taxpayer dollars: [link removed]

One of many examples of the taxpayer-funded discrimination supported by PPP loans to private religious schools is Cathedral High School in Indiana, which received millions in PPP loans, despite expelling a student for identifying as transgender and refusing to hire teachers who are married to same-sex spouses.

What’s worse, even with the billions of dollars already provided to private religious schools, President Donald Trump, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell want more. On Monday night, Sen. McConnell released a relief package that would heap billions of additional tax dollars on private religious schools and state private school voucher programs.

Forcing taxpayers to fund private religious education is a violation of taxpayers’ religious freedom, plain and simple.

If you are as outraged as we are by this analysis, please consider making a special donation to Americans United’s work to stop voucher programs from funneling taxpayer money to private religious schools: [link removed]

Thank you for giving your time and energy so generously to the cause of church-state separation. Together we will continue to hold the government accountable to the promise of religious freedom in our Constitution.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

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Americans United for Separation of Church and State
All rights reserved.
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