This post from NLR’s weekly guest blogger Huma Rashid is sure to give some folks a wedgie – Huma is addressing the interplay between religious schools and organized labor:
As of 2009, a little over six million American students (or 11% of all students in this country) attended a private school. The majority of private schools in the United States are operated by a religious institution. Religiously affiliated and denominational schools form a large subcategory of private schools, and instruct pupils in religious subjects and practices as well as secular subjects. These religious schools are privately financed, and as a result are usually able to skirt certain state regulations. Their costs are funded largely through tuition and donations. Out-of-pocket costs to the student attending these religious schools are usually much greater than a comparable private school, though the actual cost on a per-student basis is, on average, nearly double for public schools. Teachers, at these schools, despite the relatively high cost of attendance, were shown to be paid 45% less, on average, than public school teachers.
But salary isn’t the only area in which teachers at private, religiously oriented institutions miss out. Aside from making considerably less than their counterparts at public schools, private school teachers lack the statutory protections of the National Labor Relations Act, a vulnerability that can completely change the nature of employment at such an institution and has caused many to wonder if faith-based schooling is a worthwhile alternative for American students.
The full text can be read at: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/labor-law-and-first-amendment-argument-against-faith-based-schooling
