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Report: Most State Mentorship Program Winners Were Religious
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Gov. John Kasich’s student mentoring program that hopes to give students access to role models has given about six times as much money this year to grant applicants connected to religious organizations than to those with no religious or spiritual basis.
The Community Connectors program provides grants to help companies and organizations partner with area schools. It requires schools to partner with a faith-based group to qualify for grants, but not one that’s necessarily religious.
The Plain Dealer reports that only 16 of the 118 grant winners were non-religious and they received $1.4 million. Partnerships involving religious groups received $8.5 million.
Kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate, faced pushback after pledging that if elected he’d push for an agency that would promote “Judeo-Christian values” overseas to counter Islamist propaganda.