Ethics

Public Funds for Scientology Tutors?

By Ed Brayton

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an article about a program that funds tutors for underachieving students, including some tutors that use methods drawn from Scientology.

A tutoring agency in Cobb County with ties to the Church of Scientology has drawn critics along with federal dollars.

Applied Scholastics pledges to offer only secular lessons. But critics who lodged four complaints last year against the nonprofit --- which uses Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's teachings --- wrote they feared it wouldn't keep ideology out of the classroom.

State education officials began an annual inspection in February and will observe the group's tutoring this month. The review will include making sure Applied Scholastics' policies and teachings are geared toward secular instruction, officials said.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on March 07, 2009 (boomark / email).