The Amish Heritage Foundation Invites You to Its 2nd ... · Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder: Making...
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Media Contact: Torah Bontrager, Executive Director 212.634.4255 (cell/text/WhatsApp) [email protected] The Amish Heritage Foundation Invites You to Its 2nd Annual Conference “Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder: Making Education a Federal Right for All Children" to focus on a child’s right to learn vs. religious freedom NEW YORK, NY, October 25, 2019 — According to the federal courts, no child in the United States has a right to an education. Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder: Making Education a Federal Right for All Children, taking place in New York, NY at Columbia University on Saturday, November 16, will challenge that. The conference will argue that the 1972 US Supreme Court case Wisconsin v. Yoder violates a child’s Constitutional right to a quality education and that religious freedom should not be so extreme as to infringe on the rights of children. Thirteen speakers — some raised Amish (Torah Bontrager), ultra-Orthodox Jewish (Naftuli Moster), Islamic (Noura Embabi), Indigenous/Native, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Baptist, and evangelical Christian (Chrissy Stroop) — will demonstrate how an inadequate education affects public, parochial, and insular- or fundamentalist-raised individuals legally, psychologically, and economically. One panel will address education and women’s equality, and another panel will address nontraditional first generation college students’ experiences. Lastly, an Amish teen will share his story of escaping and quitting his job in order to attend high school. The conference will also offer specific calls to action toward making education an explicit federal right for all children, supporting marginalized children and adults who wish to further their education, and enforcing existing state education laws. Keynote speaker Attorney and Professor Michael Rebell (Teachers College and Columbia Law School) is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the education-adequacy movement in the United States. The executive director of the Center for Educational Equity, Prof. Rebell is serving as the lead attorney for Rhode Island public school students and parents who have filed a federal lawsuit against the state for failing to prepare children for citizenship. He argues that that failing violates their rights under the United States Constitution.
Transcript of The Amish Heritage Foundation Invites You to Its 2nd ... · Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder: Making...
Media Contact: Torah Bontrager, Executive Director 212.634.4255 (cell/text/WhatsApp) [email protected]
The Amish Heritage Foundation Invites You to Its 2nd Annual Conference
“Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder: Making Education a Federal Right for All Children" to focus on a child’s right to learn vs. religious freedom
NEW YORK, NY, October 25, 2019 — According to the federal courts, no child in the United States has a right to an education. Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder: Making Education a Federal Right for All Children, taking place in New York, NY at Columbia University on Saturday, November 16, will challenge that. The conference will argue that the 1972 US Supreme Court case Wisconsin v. Yoder violates a child’s Constitutional right to a quality education and that religious freedom should not be so extreme as to infringe on the rights of children.
Thirteen speakers — some raised Amish (Torah Bontrager), ultra-Orthodox Jewish (Naftuli Moster), Islamic (Noura Embabi), Indigenous/Native, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Baptist, and evangelical Christian (Chrissy Stroop) — will demonstrate how an inadequate education affects public, parochial, and insular- or fundamentalist-raised individuals legally, psychologically, and economically. One panel will address education and women’s equality, and another panel will address nontraditional first generation college students’ experiences. Lastly, an Amish teen will share his story of escaping and quitting his job in order to attend high school.
The conference will also offer specific calls to action toward making education an explicit federal right for all children, supporting marginalized children and adults who wish to further their education, and enforcing existing state education laws.
Keynote speaker Attorney and Professor Michael Rebell (Teachers College and Columbia Law School) is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the education-adequacy movement in the United States. The executive director of the Center for Educational Equity, Prof. Rebell is serving as the lead attorney for Rhode Island public school students and parents who have filed a federal lawsuit against the state for failing to prepare children for citizenship. He argues that that failing violates their rights under the United States Constitution.
Founder, Executive Director, and Columbia University alumna Torah Bontrager: “I was born in a religious system that treats children as property. I had no rights, not even to choose my future as an adult. The US Supreme Court decided that the only future I deserved was one of being a housewife and a practicing Amish member. Yoder was ruled wrongly and
it’s time to overturn it.”
Keynote Speaker Prof. Michael Rebell: “Most people think that children have a right to an adequate education under the U.S.
Constitution. But the federal courts have never held that there is such a right.”
Speaker Chrissy Stroop (Writer, Commentator & Journalist): “What Amish Heritage Foundation is doing to fight for the right of U.S. children to a decent
education … is so important. Every child deserves the right to the best standards of education … to be taught actual science, even if their parents at home are going to tell them to reject it.
Parents shouldn't be able to keep them from learning it."
Live-streaming and in-person tickets are available. Also available are a limited number of discounted tickets sponsored by donors for individuals who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend. AHF is looking for sponsors, volunteers, and members of the press to help make the event a success.
To learn more about AHF and the conference schedule, please visit AmishHeritage.org/conference.
Twitter: @AmishFoundation - #WivYoder Facebook: @AmishFoundation LinkedIn: @AmishFoundation Instagram: @Amish.Foundation
ABOUT The Amish Heritage Foundation: Guided by enlightenment principles, the Amish Heritage Foundation (AHF) is, to our knowledge, the first organization in 300+ years of Amish history that advocates for the Amish—inside and outside the Church—without a religious price tag, promotes compassionate secular values, and empowers those who leave the Church. Overturning Wisconsin v. Yoder is AHF’s flagship project.
MEDIA CONTACT:Torah Bontrager, Executive Director 212.634.4255 (cell/text/WhatsApp) [email protected]
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