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Survey shows one fourth of Americans want to end Public SchoolingRises to half if private scholarships available for poorFRESNO, Calif. - Alliance for the Separation of School & State announced results of a national survey taken Oct. 22-25, 1998: One out of four Americans (27%) support repealing compulsory school attendance and ending tax support for schooling. The number favoring these measures jumped to over half (57%) when those opposed to the idea were asked to reconsider, if they "were assured that there would be enough private scholarships available so that all poor and disadvantaged students had the chance to go to better schools than today." Marshall Fritz, Director of the Fresno, Calif. Alliance announced the poll results as part of the buildup to the group's fourth annual conference, SepCon'98. Fritz noted that those with the greatest need to improve their children's education were the most responsive to the Educational Freedom idea if sufficient private scholarships are available: Black support jumped from 26% to 61%, low-income support from 26% to 62%, and ages 18-34 from 28% to 63%. SepCon'98 co-sponsor Rev. E. Ray Moore, founder of Exodus Mandate, was excited about the survey: "When I propose that Christian children should be removed from 'public schools' and that we should separate schools from the state, the first question is almost always about the poor. This survey shows that Educational Freedom will be feasible when we can show convincing evidence that private scholarships will take care of the disadvantaged. This indicates a need for churches to bring financial support to Christian education." The Alliance was founded in 1994 by Marshall Fritz and other parents, educators, and concerned citizens as a grass-roots, non-profit educational organization with the mission of informing Americans how education can be improved, especially for the poor, by ending government involvement in K-12 education. As of August, 2000, more than 10,000 have endorsed the Alliances "Proclamation for the Separation of School and State," including home school leaders from Mary Pride to Gregg Harris and Cathy Duffy, policy leaders from Allan Carlson to Howard Phillips and Edward Crane, journalists from Linda Bowles to Wm. Murchison Murchison, concerned citizens from Tom Monaghan (founder of Domino's Pizza) to Thomas Szasz, and religious leaders ranging from Dr. D. James Kennedy to Rabbi Daniel Lapin and Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. For more information, call (559) 499-1776 or visit www.SepSchool.org.
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