OPINION:
It seems that each week, there is another horrific attack at a place of faith. Late last month, a gunman maliciously stole the lives of four and injured eight at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan. Days earlier in Britain, a car-ramming and stabbing attack outside a Manchester synagogue claimed two lives and left three people seriously injured on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.
This is in addition to an incident in which a Muslim girl’s hijab was ripped off her head outside the New York Islamic school she attends and three shootings in three years at U.S. Christian schools (in Wisconsin, Tennessee and Minnesota). All occurred after a request for security funding for nonpublic schools went unanswered.
Perhaps the most troubling, however, is that these are just a handful of the horrifying stories of violence as faith-based schools and institutions increasingly become targets amid rising hate crimes worldwide. Last year, the second-highest number of hate crimes was recorded. Those targeting religion were nearly equal to all hate crimes committed based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability combined.
As Muslim, Jewish and Catholic community leaders, we believe educating our students should be our sole focus. However, as hate crimes continue to rise — with nearly 700 elementary and secondary schools targets of hate crimes in the previous academic year, according to FBI data — safety is taking up an increasing amount of our attention and resources.
Our students deserve to feel safe while they learn, and our communities deserve to be safe while they pray and gather. It is time our state and federal governments took the necessary steps to afford protection to faith-based communities.
We are grateful that steps have been taken to provide security support and funding. For instance, after the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, New York increased security funding from $70 million to $105 million. In Florida, a $20 million bump in security funding for Jewish day schools has helped protect Jewish students.
Federally, a one-time supplement to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides security funding to at-risk institutions such as our schools and houses of worship, increased to $664 million in 2024, more than doubling the $305 million allocated the previous year.
Unfortunately, however, these funding increases have not been in line with the increase in hate crimes, and more is needed.
First, it is important to note that as a one-time supplement, the nearly doubled NSGP fund is set to go back down. Second, the NSGP pool is limited, and the larger the number of institutions that apply, the smaller the allocation per applicant. In fact, in 2023, when for the first time in the history of NSGP, all 55 eligible states and territories applied, only 43% of applicants received funding.
We anticipate that the latest devastation in Michigan will stress the system further as more churches nationwide seek assistance. We are also seeing similar patterns on the state level, with many faith-based schools and the communities that support them being forced to subsidize additional security costs. One study found that Jewish day schools across four states spent 84% more on security after Oct. 7 than they did for the 2022-2023 school year.
The sad reality is that, as we prepare to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Simhath Torah (and after having just marked the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks), Jewish institutions nationwide are once again being forced to bulk up on security. The cost of this additional safety shouldn’t lie on the community. It’s a basic need that governments should provide. Security funding must be consistent, accessible and adequate so that our families feel comfortable sending their children to our schools every day.
It’s time for states and the federal government to recognize that all schoolchildren must be protected. We cannot wait for the next hate crime before we act. It is critical to act now to save lives.
• Steven F. Cheeseman is president and CEO of the National Catholic Educational Association. Rafeek Mohamed is principal at Al Ihsan Academy and president of the Islamic Schools Association. Sydney Altfield is the national director of the Teach Coalition.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.