Why, As A Pastor, I Hope You Support The Levy

(I recognize this post is too long and that you probably won’t read it. But this is a complicated issue, so I wanted to be thorough.)

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Eph 6:12

I haven’t written a post in a long time. Almost 3 years. There are a lot of reasons for that. One of those reasons is that I’ve been doing a lot with our high school in Battle Ground. Maybe I can give some context.

To be honest, I’ve been worried about writing this post. Not because of what I’m going to write. But because of who might come after me for writing it. And that’s a problem. Why am I, as a pastor of a Christian church, concerned that by writing a post in support of public schools, I will be attacked by pastors and leaders of other Christian churches? That’s a problem. It should not be.

The Context

Before our church moved to Battle Ground, we were down in Vancouver. I tried on multiple occasions with multiple schools to find a way I could help the schools near the church: elementary, middle, and high school. With one school, we had a great relationship until the principal left. The next principal was not interested in partnering with our church. I tried with the middle school and high school just to volunteer and was met with quite a bit of resistance – because I was a pastor.

I get it. Some pastors have been a little too eager to proselytize and a lot too reluctant to love. I can understand why my motives would be questioned. But, it always bothered me that the principal/staff never took the time to get to know me before making those assumptions and closing the door.

When we moved to Battle Ground (actually before our move), I found the exact opposite. I got involved with the Citizen’s Advisory Committee, started a podcast to help build a bridge between the community and the school district, and then started volunteering at the high school when my oldest was in the choir. Where it felt like bouncers were keeping me from entering before, I was greeted, welcomed, and WANTED.

That started me on a path to get my certification and take over (and hopefully rebuild) the choir program at BGHS. I’ve been in the school every day for nearly 3 years now (one as a volunteer and two teaching). Do you know what I’ve learned? I have never had this kind of opportunity to be among people in the community.

Before this, as a pastor, I felt isolated. I was only around other church people all the time. I didn’t know what “real” people were like anymore. I was insulated and isolated from the people who make up the majority of our culture. I had no connection. And when I tried, as soon as people found out I was a pastor they would put up their hackles and oftentimes just stop talking/walk away. But that hasn’t happened in the school.

So why do I think we should support the levy (and the schools)?

Did you know, that even at the height of the pandemic, only 17% of students were enrolled in either private school or home school? (Link: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2023/acs/acs-55.pdf ) Before the pandemic, the numbers varied from 8-12% who were in private/home. For a long time the numbers were about 92% of people went to public school. (Did you know the public school system was an outgrowth of the original sunday school movement where churches sought to educate children who were being used as child labor?)

I went to public school. My wife went to public school. My parents went to public school. And the chances are pretty good that you did too.

The VAST MAJORITY of people go to/went to public schools.

Is it really wise for us to set ourselves up as opponents to the one institution that has the most influence in a person’s life outside of their family?

Do I agree with everything that happens? No.

Are the things that people are talking about on massively popular podcasts actually happening in our schools? No. I can’t speak for all schools and districts, but I know our schools. I’m probably one of the most informed citizens about our schools. But, there is a lot of folklore about the public schools that gets promulgated through podcasts that just isn’t true. Or if it’s true, it’s one out of a thousand.

So Many Good Things

One thing I’ve learned by doing this podcast with the school district for the past 4 years, is that there are so many good things happening in our schools. So many good teachers doing great things. So many good students showing kindness and love to one another. So much good. CAM students giving back after hurricane Helene. Open Doors, a program that helps students get a GED who didn’t finish high school. PTA’s And PTO’s that raise money to provide equipment for students, Unified sports, River homelink earning awards, Greg McKelvey leading the band for 27 years, fighting addiction, providing resources for homeless students, teaching the trades like construction, electrical and HVAC, partnering with businesses in the community to teach and train students how to be good employees. And that’s just a few. There are so many good things happening.

Who Will Suffer

I know a lot of people who are vocal about their opposition to public schools talk about how the teachers and admin are paid too much. And they think by opposing the levy they are sticking it to “the man.” That’s not true. Will positions be cut if the levy doesn’t pass? Yes. Will those people suffer? Yes? Will the rest of the administrators and teachers suffer because they have to carry extra weight? Yes.

But who suffers most are children. They’re the ones that will have more students in their classes, so less time with the teacher. They will have less access to things like middle school sports where they start learning about working as a team, work ethic, how to win and lose graciously. And that’s just the beginning.

The biggest victims are

Curriculum

One of the biggest concerns I hear is about curriculum. If you want to know more about how curriculum is chosen in our district, I’d encourage you to listen to this episode where we talk about the curriculum adoption process (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bg-cast/id1617925382?i=1000590914543).

With the exception of the sex-ed curriculum the state does not get involved in a district’s curriculum selection. With that curriculum, the state offered 3 choices to all school districts. We had a big committee of members of the community involved in that selection process.

What should you know? The district does not choose a curriculum that is extremely slanted toward the left or the right. Think about it logically for a second. What are companies like McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin interested in? PROFIT! They want to make money. The way they make money is by selling as much of their curriculum to as many schools in as many states as possible. It is in their best interest to write a curriculum that is very centric.

If you want to get involved in helping choose curriculum, you can join a curriculum adoption team. Click here to learn more.

Does that rule out a rogue teacher with an agenda? No. But if that happens, you should talk with your principal. Because they have a curriculum they are expected to teach. If they’re going outside of that, the administrators want to know.

Other Levy Facts:

The current proposal was initially set to be 4 cents more than the last levy. What does that amount to? About $20 more for a 500k house. And if any new houses get built in the district, that amount starts to go down. So, it’s likely people would be paying less, probably even before the levy dollars started being collected. I reached out to the district and received this clarification: “The new levy rate is estimated to be $1.95. The expiring levy was estimated to be $1.99 when it passed. Since then, the actual rate has dropped. It is $1.68 for this year.” To see how levy rates change over the years, look at the “History of Battle Ground Public Schools property tax rates” on this page: https://www.battlegroundps.org/page/taxes.

There are several “unfunded mandates” from the state. Where the state government requires a certain amount of X (nurses for example), but only pays to cover part of them.

Our district already has the lowest tax rate of all districts in Clark County. This proposal would still keep us the lowest.

Our district handles money very responsibly. You probably think admins are paid too much. For the amount of time they spend and burden they carry, they don’t. Projects come in under budget. Do they make a lot? Yes. As much as other administrators? No. Think about it. In order to hire good, honest, reliable people, they have to be paid competitively. If a neighboring district is offering twice as much for the same job, where are they going to go? If you had the opportunity to do the same job for twice as much, would you go there? We want good, honest, reliable people running the complex system of our district. That’s what we currently have. You may not agree, but I’ve gotten to know many of the people in district office over the past 4 years, and I’m always impressed at the caliber of people we have working for our school district.

And, we’ve had a lot of teachers leave nearby districts to work for Battle Ground because our district has a good reputation in the county. Some are even coming for lower pay because they want to work for an administration that they can trust.

Do I Agree With Everything?

No. I don’t agree with everything that happens in the district. But, as a pastor, I’ve also never worked at a church where I agree with every policy. I’ve never worked at a church where I agree with 100% of the theology of every pastor on staff. I’ve never had a church where 100% of the people in the church agreed on 100% of everything about the church. And somehow, I still believe.

The only organizations that are able to get close to 100% agreement on everything are probably cults. And they are only able to do so through force and manipulation. And even then, agreement does not equal belief. I can say I agree with a policy because I know if I don’t I’ll lose my job. But I still don’t believe it.

How Can We Oppose The People We Want To Reach?

For some reason, too many Christians have formed the false belief that it is our job to judge and condemn people outside the faith. That’s just not true. At least not according to the apostle Paul. “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.” (1 Cor 5:12-13) It’s also not our job to try to convict people of sin, that’s also God’s job. Jesus actually taught about that: “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment”. (John 16:8)

What is our job? To live a life that shines. Not preaching condemnation. Not judging people. But, according to Jesus:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:13-16)

Who is they? Well, Jesus is talking to people who wanted to follow him. So, the “they” would be others who weren’t following Jesus. And how do we let our light shin? By doing good deeds. Not by preaching, not by condeming, not by fighting against the very things that acutally sustain many of the people, but by doing good deeds.

Don’t like how things are going? Get involved. Volunteer. Make a difference with one student. Love one student. Love one teacher. Love one principal. Love one custodian, support staff or superintendent. That’s how we change the world. By doing something good for someone who can never pay us back. That’s how we become like Christ. By sacrifically loving others. Laying down our rights just like Jesus laid down everything he had the right to as the son of God. He, the perfect, sinless, spotless lamb of God actually became sin. He became sin. Have you thought about that? “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus wasn’t just “clothed” in our sin, but he actually became it. He became it so he could deal with the judgement we deserved for it. And He became the sacrifice for it.

That’s how we’re supposed to live as his followers. We’re supposed to deny ourselves, take up our cross and love one another. We’re supposed to lay down our rights and everything we think we’re entitled to so that others can benefit.

Bottom line:

I hope you’ll support the school with the levy. I do. Not just for my own personal benefit. But for the benefit of all 12,393 students in the district. I hope you’ll show them that you care about them by supporting something, even in the fact of adamant, vocal opposition. I hope you’ll have the courage to stand up to the bullies. I hope you’ll get involved with the schools and make a difference in the life of one student. I hope you’ll show some love and encouragement to just one teacher or administrator. I hope you’ll see what I see. 12,393 people made in the image of God who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. 1,240.65 people who work for the schools that are also made in God’s image. (I’m only a .2 person).

And maybe, somehow we can all start to rally around the students and people in our schools and see our community come together like it was back in the day. Maybe we can put our weapons down and pick up a broom. Maybe we can stop yelling at our district leaders and go shout for the musicians and athletes. Maybe we can be different than the rest of the country. I think we can. I hope we will.

It’s possible. Check out the documentary “Undivided” about Roosevelt high school in Portland. Maybe that could be all the churches coming together with the entire distirct and saying, “let’s do this together. For the good of the future of our community.”

By the way, if you’re looking for a church that supports the schools, think about SixEight Church!