Category: Church

I wrote this post because beneath all our debates about school levies, public education, and local politics is a deeper question for Christians: what kind of neighbor are we choosing to be? Drawing from the teachings of Jesus, the early church, and the reality that 85–90% of children attend public schools, I explore what it means to love our neighbors where we actually live—not in theory, but in practice. This isn’t about endorsement or agreement; it’s about presence, credibility, forgiveness, and whether our faith is known more for defending our rights or for sacrificial love that reflects Christ in our community.

Public education in America did not begin as a secular project, but as a deeply Christian one. From Puritan communities that believed every person should be able to read the Bible, to the Sunday School movement led by Robert Raikes that educated working children during the Industrial Revolution, modern public schools grew out of faith-based efforts to serve the common good. This article traces the historical transition from church-led education to publicly funded schools, showing how Christian compassion, literacy, and shared responsibility laid the foundation for today’s public education system—and why that history still matters in conversations about school funding, levies, and community support.