A Call to Support Public Education | Guest blog by Rev. Keri Cress

Rev. Keri Cress is the current TWK Church and Society chair. She is an ordained deacon serving as Associate Pastor at East End UMC in Nashville. Rev. Cress has a background in social work and has worked directly with children and families in several communities in and around Nashville.

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In light of all that is happening in the state of Tennessee regarding public education, it is important for us to look at how our faith might lead us to respond. Making education accessible to all has been a core Methodist value since the beginning of the Methodist Movement. Education was central to the Wesley home as John was growing up. That followed him as he went to Oxford and eventually as he started and expanded the Kingswood school, a school to educate the children of miners in the 1740s.

As the movement expanded to the United States and other leadership emerged, education remained an important focus for the Methodists.  In 1866, the Board of Bishops made a declaration that the Southern states would need to make provisions for the education of children who had been freed after the Civil War.  As a result, the Methodists established schools for these children and child laborers and even worked to establish several Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  The United Methodist Church continues to support 11 of these schools. 

Why has education been an important focus for the people called Methodists?  For the very same reasons that it is today.  Education directly affects the quality of life. Education opens doors that lead toward the abundant life that Jesus speaks of in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” It is an abundance that encompasses more than just spiritual things; very real and tangible needs were met in the ministry of Jesus here on earth.  We remember in this Lenten season that Jesus was here and walked a very difficult path on this earth and yet he found time to welcome children, to heal the sick, and to feed people.

There is a straight line between a lack of quality public education and poverty.  We know that children growing up in poverty can have lifelong social, emotional, and economic setbacks.  Quality, free public education makes it possible for children to grow up and obtain jobs that open doors to access food and provide health insurance that opens the doors to healing through our healthcare system.

Education opens our minds so that we may grow intellectually but also in how we understand and relate to one another.  One might even say that education is a form of discipleship that moves us all towards perfection.  It is absolutely vital that we, as the people called Methodist, stand in this Wesleyan value of accessible quality public education and on our Social Principles that remind us that education can “best be fulfilled through public elementary and secondary schools and to post-secondary schools of their choice.” (The United Methodist Social Principles ¶ 164.E). 

The current proposed voucher program takes money away from our public schools, affecting their ability to provide a quality education, and further removes resources from economically disadvantaged students (up to 30% of Tennessee students), students in need of Individualized Educational Plans, and students who are English Language Learners. In many areas in our state, we are already struggling to meet these needs. The voucher program brings us further away from offering access to free public education to those who need it the most.  And from welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, and from healing the sick.

We have a small window to raise our voice as the people called Methodists, and that moment is now.  Our legislators need to hear that we will not stand for taking resources from our most vulnerable families. Our TWK Church and Society Team has been gathering resources to help us all lend our voices in this vital moment. 

Please follow this link (https://twkumc.org/connect/church-society/a-call-to-support-public-education/) to add your voice to those calling for quality public education. Thank you.