not to put their children in public schools and wanted to
teach their kids themselves were literally at risk of losing
them to the state. This is far from true in most states today
because of legislation that makes accommodation for home-
schooling. More support is needed, but things are moving in
the right direction.
2. Legislation supporting parental choice in education
Huge progress is taking place across the country by states
that are passing laws that enable parents to choose where
their child attends school. This is especially significant in
that at least 14 states have now passed creative legislation
enabling funding for educational alternatives outside of
public and public charter education. This includes options
that can provide funding to help students attend Christian
schools!
It is truly exciting to see this progress. Parents should
have control over educational choices for their children, and
taxpayers should be given greater opportunity to support
education they feel best serves their communities. This is
legislation we should be working to see passed in every
state. Renewanation participates in a couple of such state
programs to support parents who choose Christian educa-
tion for their children. Contact us at renewanation.org to
learn more.
A couple of true stories
Many people don’t understand the significant impact they
can have if they will get personally involved.
In Virginia, the battle over school choice has been going on
for years. As in most states, nothing happens fast in Virginia
politics. A friend decided to get involved, so he began to
speak out whenever possible and connect with legislators
who were interested in promoting school choice legislation.
He visited with them, learned their interests and the chal-
lenges they faced with bills being proposed, and he shared
his ideas with them. In 2012, pro school choice legislation
passed in Virginia in the form of a Tax Credit Program. The
problem was the bill had practical challenges for implemen-
tation. My friend continued to talk to legislators and in the
2013 session, significant improvements were passed on the
original bill. A leading aide to the Senator who introduced
the changes told my friend, “The Senator took your concerns
about the original bill and your proposed changes to help it
and introduced them in a bill that modified and improved
the law.” As a result of this bill, several thousand students are
now receiving Christian worldview education.
46
In Alabama in 2013, legislation supporting school choice
by the Alabama House and Senate was stopped by a court
injunction. The approved bills were not able to move on to
the governor for his signature. Knowing that similar court
action had stopped a bill in Colorado a year earlier but had
been overruled by the Colorado Supreme Court, a friend of
mine sent emails of encouragement to every conservative
member of the Alabama House and Senate and shared the
Colorado precedent with them. Within a week, the Alabama
High Courts had addressed the matter, and the governor
signed the bills into law!
The point of these stories is that we live in a country where
citizens can have a significant influence on legislation—if
we will. I encourage you to step forward and affect change
through legislation.
6
STEPS TO HELP
SHAPE GOOD
LEGISLATION
1. Stop cursing the darkness, and let your light shine.
2. Educate yourself on critical matters reflected in
your culture in light of truth, particularly biblical truth.
3. Share what you discover, and rally your friends,
your neighbors, and as many people as you can
around that truth.
4. Get to know your local elected representatives
and the legislators in your state who may share your
values and can help support them with laws.
5. Understand that “we wrestle not against flesh and
blood but against spiritual wickedness” (Ephesians
6:12).
6. Seek God’s wisdom, and work to honor Him for the
good of all. He will help you do it!
FOOTNOTES
1. “Timeline: Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement” PBS.org, http://
www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/stonewall.
2. Volokh, Eugene. “What percentage of the U.S. population is gay, lesbian or
bisexual?” Washingtonpost.com, July 15, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.
com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/07/15/what-percentage-of-the-u-s-
population-is-gay-lesbian-or-bisexual.
Brody, Ben. “Americans Vastly Overestimate Size of Gay and Lesbian Popula-
tion” Bloomberg.com, May 22, 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/
articles/2015-05-22/americans-vastly-overestimate-size-of-lgbt-population.