GARY, Ind. (BP) -- In the Griffin house, even the dog is polite. At a
command from dad Roman Griffin, the golden retriever/chow mix skitters
to her cage without a whimper. When a visitor steps in the front door,
six children ranging from 5 to 17 -- including twins and a nephew -- sit
beneath family photos in a red living room to offer their attention.
Naomi,
8, wears Hello Kitty slippers and a toothy grin. She says she'd like to
be a preacher, teacher, fireman, policeman, scientist, and "play all
the instruments." Her brother, 11-year-old Jailon, wants to "write
fiction stories, mostly for kids and babies," and has learned at school
that "anything is possible when you have God in your life."
Last
year Naomi, Jailon, and an older brother, Roman Jr., left two public
schools to attend Ambassador Christian Academy in Gary, Ind. They did so
only because state-provided vouchers paid for the $4,300 in tuition and
fees. Their parents, Roman and Sheila, support the household of eight
with a combined $35,000 or so they net each year from jobs as a barber
and receptionist.
Jailon and Naomi will attend Ambassador again
this fall with vouchers. Roman Jr. will use one to attend a Catholic
high school. Roman and Sheila Griffin aren't sure if they'll have the
money to send their 5-year-old twin girls, ineligible for state
vouchers, to Ambassador's kindergarten class this year. "If we could
afford it they would have all been in a Christian school from the
start," Sheila said.
As Indiana's path-breaking voucher program
charts its second year, the Griffin children are among thousands of
Hoosier students using state dollars to attend private schools. About
300 private, largely Christian schools in the state are accepting
voucher students -- and gaining a financial boost as they arrive. The
boost once was rare, but the school choice movement is surging, thanks
to Republican statehouse efforts with occasional Democratic support. The
impact in Indiana could predict how Christian schools will benefit from
new school choice programs in states such as Louisiana.
Inside
Ambassador Academy on a recent summer day, day campers drew with crayons
in art class and jumped to a pop song in gym class. The school,
sponsored by a local nondenominational church, crouches in an area of
Gary where most streets host boarded windows and overgrown lawns.
Ambassador served about 300 students from pre-K to eighth grade during
the last school year. A third of them used vouchers.
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