October 31, 2010. St. Petersburg Times.
Last week a coalition of churches, temples and other religious organizations called Faith and Action for Strength Together, or FAST, voted to make education a top priority, identify specific issues of concern and help find solutions. – Made up of roughly 40 congregations, FAST has advocated for causes such as affordable housing and access to public transportation for seniors and worked with Pinellas County schools to improve disciplinary programs and policies, said Rabbi Michael Torop, of Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg. – Torop, 47, FAST’s secretary, talked to St. Petersburg Times correspondent Sylvia Lim about the coalition’s efforts:
What are some of the education concerns FAST members have expressed?
Among the African-American community, they are concerned about high dropout rates among African-American young men. … There were also lots of concerns about the disparity of performance between the Caucasian population and all minorities in the county. Everybody is very tuned in to bullying. And they are concerned about what appears to be inadequate allocation of funds for special education and the bureaucracy parents have to navigate to get support for students with special needs. Then, there are those who are concerned about students who aren’t keeping up or getting support from home, where do they go for additional support?
What’s next?
Now that we have chosen a new issue, the strategy committee will meet and try to figure out how to focus on the issue, what research needs to be done and what resources are available in the community to help us analyze this issue. In December, our network and a team of members from each congregation will hear what we have figured out so far and we invite people to participate in the research meetings. Over the next few months, as our congregations prepare for the large gathering in spring, the education committee will continue to meet to sharpen the focus. … Ultimately, what we call “A Big Holy Audacious Goal” is to have enough people involved, enough individuals committed to creating systemic change.
Do you see any conflicts between FAST being a coalition of faith-based organizations and its efforts to change policies or be involved in local politics?
We are quite clearly and emphatically nonpartisan and nonpolitical. We neither endorse nor advise any particular candidates. When it comes to a particular election, we look to find allies and partners in government entities who want to solve the same problems we want to solve, and with whom we can find agreement on the kind of solutions that are the most appropriate and achievable. … We operate as an interfaith community because our faith traditions, whether Jewish, Catholic, Islam or Christian, all share a vision of the community we want to live in. We all share a sense that our God expects and commands us to be actively engaged in a more just society; that to be more active in our community to achieve equity and fairness and equality are commonly held values.
