Religious organizations garner the most grants

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A student mentoring program that Republican Gov. John Kasich created to give students access to role models has given about six times as much money this year to grant applicants connected to religious organizations as it has to those with no religious or spiritual basis.

Kasich announced the Community Connectors program in his 2014 State of the State speech. The program gives out grants to help companies and organizations partner with area schools. Schools must partner with a faith-based group to qualify for those grants, but not necessarily a religious one.

Sixteen of the 118 grant winners were nonreligious, The Plain Dealer reported, and they received $1.4 million. By comparison, partnerships involving religious groups received $8.5 million.

Nearly $10 million has been spent on the program. Another $20 million is expected to be spent over the next two years.

Supporters of the program say the state is trying to use every means possible to decrease student dropouts. Some partnership administrators say they’re focusing on things such as career readiness and that converting people is not what they do.

Bill Kitson, CEO of the United Way of Greater Cleveland, is a member of the advisory committee for the program. He helped review grant applications, he said, adding that the groups were not identifiable.

He said the applications were determined based on their chances of success – not by their affiliations.

“I think all those that applied received a fair shot,” Kitson said.

Some critics say the program infringes too far upon the separation of government and religion and that the pattern of the awards indicates religious groups were favored.

“Sadly, it’s somewhat predictable,” said Ian Smith, a lawyer for Americans United. “It seems obvious that the point of this was always to get this kind of response.”

Kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate, frequently cites his Christian faith as a motivating factor is his leadership. He faced recent pushback after pledging that if elected he’d push for an agency that would promote “Judeo-Christian values” overseas to counter Islamist propaganda.