This diary started as a comment in an midday open thread...Bake sales... expressing my frustration over the fact that parents and teachers are selling cookies, cupcakes, etc. to pay for BASIC supplies and sometimes even to keep staff on the payroll. SusanG linked to this article: Can a PTA Bakesale Save a Teacher's Job? I was upset at the thought that this is even needed. We claim that education is a priority in our country-- it is worth our expenditures of money and time.
Meanwhile, I read elsewhere today that our tax dollars are being spent to build and furnish HUGE mega-church complexes on U.S. military bases THAT ALREADY HAVE multiple chapels and worship sites. It really struck me how crazy this is, if we are looking at it in terms of priorities.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS vs. PUBLIC MEGA-CHURCHES...
I must admit to being a bit shocked by the numbers attached to building churches for the military. I know that building construction of any kind isn't cheap, but really-- how big are these complexes being built with public money? This isn't defense spending-- it's Christian warrior spending.
Among the most expensive and extravagant of these mega-church military chapel projects are two of those requested by members of the Family. One, requested by John Carter for Fort Hood, already received $17,500,000 in last year's Defense Authorization Act, and this year's House bill adds an $8,500,000 addition to the project, for a total of $26,000,000. The other is a $14,400,000 mega-church for Fort Campbell, already approved in both the House and Senate versions of this year's bill. Requesting this earmark for Fort Campbell were the representatives of the two congressional districts in which Fort Campbell lies, which is who would normally be requesting an earmark for the base. But, also requesting this earmark was Family member Zach Wamp (R-TN), whose district is nowhere near Fort Campbell. Why is Wamp involved in this project? Well, a private group, the Citizens for Fort Campbell (CFFC), lobbied for it and Wamp pledged to help them get the funding for it. Wamp is on the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee for Military Construction, as is John Carter. In fact, three of the four republicans on this subcommittee are members of the Family. The third is Ander Crenshaw (R-FL).
Quote taken from this excellent, rescued diary C Street and the Military by Chris Rodda.
So, "God's chosen" men in Congress are using their positions of power to send money "God's way", so to speak.
Pulled straight from the wesite of Congressman John Carter:
· $17.5 million for a Chapel and Religious Education Center. This funding will be used for the construction of a standard design chapel facility on Fort Hood. This facility will help meet religious needs of the nearly 50,000 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood while also providing counseling services, child care, and family support services for soldiers and thier (sic) families
He is obviously quite proud of this achievement-- it is a lot federal money being spent in Texas.
I just happen to think that all this money could be spent SO much better. How many teachers could 17.5 million dollars pay?
The current average annual teacher salary is listed as $51,009 * (I am a teacher, and I will have to work for another 15 years to even approach that amount!) 17.5 million dollar would pay 350 teachers for a year with some leftovers. Where I live, that amount of money would fund 460 teachers for a year.
*Average Teacher Salaries
Think about the books, and supplies that could be bought with this money... think of the computer hardware and software. Think of the Pell Grants that could be funded...
Now think that 17.5 million is being spent on ONE mega-church complex on ONE military base, and that there are others being built on other bases, and that there are requests being put in for others as part of military spending bills ALL the time. I think that military servicemen and women and their families are free to worship (or not) in whatever manner they choose. I just do not think that public money should be spent to build facilities that seem to focus on primarily ONE specific kind of religion... all while budgets for basic human service needs are being cut.
In MY world, schools would have all the money they needed, and mega-churches would have to pay for their buildings via bake sales.