“Let Me Rise”
Please take the time to watch this amazingly powerful video prepared by the Heritage Foundation on the fight to save the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program- and in fact the fight to give every child the type of educational opportunities they deserve.
Educating a child
I apologize for the lack of new blog posts lately. A long-weekend away for a family wedding kept me away from the computer, so I’m just now trying to play catch up.
I usually try and blog about positive news about education reform from around the country- stories where school choice has been implemented and given families and students hope, but the news about the tragic and senseless beating of a Chicago student deeply saddened and angered me. Perhaps even more so, it frustrated me. No child should go to school in fear. No parent should worry about whether their child will survive the school day. As I read the reports and see the news- you can feel the fear of these students as they talk about tensions escalating and fights breaking out in the hallways. How can a child be expected to learn- to achieve- when they are fearful for their safety or their life?
As readers of this blog know, I have a 4 year old at home. It makes me sick with fear to think what I would do if it were my child who had to go back to this school- knowing what had happened- knowing what was happening. We have written before about the recent study by the Heritage Foundation and the Lexington Institute showing the lack of safety in the DC public schools. But it is not just limited to these urban school districts. Bullying has increased over the past decades- and plenty of students- even students in great schools- are fearful setting foot in school every day.
And that is one of the reasons we work so hard to ensure that every child- every family has a choice. We cannot expect a child to succeed- to excel- if they don’t even feel safe in the classroom. It may not always be something as extreme as what has just happened in Chicago- but that doesn’t make each individual situation any less tragic.
Save School Choice!
Support the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
Capitol Rally
September 30, 2009
Sponsored by the DC Black Alliance for
Educational Options
Join us as we raise our voices to help all District children get a quality education and ensure that all options are available to low-income District families. A bipartisan team of local leaders, community activists, and policymakers are fighting to Put Kids First. All of our voices must be heard! Together, we can help thousands of low-income District families.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
11:30 AM — 1:00 PM
WHERE: U.S. Capitol, Upper Senate Park
(Constitution Ave NW &
New Jersey Ave NW)
METRO: Union Station or Capitol South
www.SaveSchoolChoice.com
Participants will receive free t-shirts.
Accountability?
This headline in the DC Examiner this morning caught my eye: “To save D.C. school vouchers, senators want accountability.” Well that sounds good- right? Yes, sure, we want ALL our schools to be accountable. So of course my next question was: “what about the (complete lack of) accountability in the DC public schools?” Humm… any of you guys want to give me an answer on that one? Accountability goes both ways.
Fortunately, the reporter gets it, and from the very beginning, she acknowledges that:
The call for more data to determine student success gets at the heart of the school choice debate: What determines the viability of a school: parental standards or government standards?
Sadly, it seems most politicians have lost all trust in the human race and our ability to do anything without the wise and wonderful hand of government telling us what to do and helping to make sure we know exactly how to live our lives.
I am ALL for accountability- especially when it comes to spending of taxpayer dollars. It is a good thing- but it must also be balanced. As we’ve argued here before- what should our education dollars be funding- education or schools? If we believe that education is the goal- let’s put accountability back in the hands of consumers. If parents have the ability to take their child out of a failing school- isn’t that accountability? If a parent has no options- and a school is failing their child- isn’t that a lack of accountability? Simply providing test scores and statistics to a government bureaucracy does not make a school accountable- does it?
Senator Dick Durbin and his cronies want us to believe that they are really looking out for the best interest of students with their empty talk about accountability for voucher students, when they have shown little genuine concern about the accountability of the DC public schools that are consistently failing students. Sure- maybe they have the enrollment numbers, the test scores, the drop-out rates- but when those public schools are consistently performing the worst in the entire nation- is there any real accountability?
I know that by now I shouldn’t be surprised, and that perhaps I shouldn’t let it get to me as much as it does, but our kids deserve better.
Betrayed
Walter Williams brings us another good look at the fight for school choice in our nation’s capital with this article in Capitalism Magazine: “Obama’s Betrayal of Education.”
Some may argue the title is a bit harsh, but let’s look at it from the perspective of the thousands of children that have been trapped in the failing DC public school system. As Mr. Williams points out, the DC public schools are not underfunded (spending is nearly 50% above the national average), teachers are the highest paid in the nation (approximately $15,000 more annually!), and the teacher-student ration is better than the national average. Yes, by nearly every measure of performance- to say these schools underperform would be a serious understatement. In most every category, DC ranks last behind every other state.
As readers of this blog well know, DC families are now fighting to save the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. This program costs a fraction of the cost of the DC public schools- and gives students and their families choice and hope for a brighter future. Yet, many in Congress are working to terminate the program. The President and Secretary Duncan have already denied scholarships to 216 students who had been promised them earlier this year, and it is not clear if they will work to continue the program at all.
As Mr. Williams writes, “For people in power to tolerate the Washington, D.C. school system is despicable. For a black president to do so might qualify as betrayal.”
Our kids deserve better. We cannot continue to accept a status quo that is failing our children and our families.
Coverage of the “DC School Choice 6″
Yesterday, we told you about a dramatic stand taken in DC by several leaders in the school reform movement. We fully support the “DC School Choice 6″ for their actions to bring attention to not only the situation in DC, but the need for all kids in this country to have access to a high quality education that best meets their needs.
The events in DC received some great press coverage.
Watch this great video from the House Republicans:
The Washington Times also has a good article with another wonderful video:
Voucher advocates face up to police
“You may not lock us up, but we’ll be back,” Mr. Chavous said. “We will make sure that we do everything in our power to give our children the education they deserve. I am disgusted by the fact that they can go to great lengths to stop or muzzle the voice of freedom.
“It is fundamentally wrong for this administration not to listen to the voices of citizens in this city.”
Fox News even ran a full piece on the action. In it, Secretary Duncan gives the same old song and dance about not just saving 1 or 2% of the students. Fine, Mr. Duncan- then give all students a choice and a chance and don’t teach even 1 or 2% that it is okay to lie by extending a chance at a better education only to take it away and send them back to unsafe and failing schools. You wouldn’t risk your own kids’ education in the DC public schools- why would you force that upon other families?
An Open Letter in Support of the “D.C. School Choice 6”
Today, more than twenty five education and civil rights leaders released a jointly signed letter in support of the six school choice advocates who blocked the entrance of the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in a dramatic act of civil disobedience.
School Choice Virginia was proud join with so many other leaders from around the country in signing onto this letter in support of the decisive and dramatic actions taken by these education leaders. Their actions today gave a voice not only to the 216 children denied their scholarships this year from the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, but to all of our children in this country who need a voice in the fight to reform education.
The full text of the letter is included below and available online. To learn more visit http://saveschoolchoice.com.
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An Open Letter in Support of the “D.C. School Choice 6.”
Today, national education leaders took a decisive stand to protect one of America’s most successful education reform initiatives—the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Their actions were strong and powerful, and we salute them for standing up for low-income children who have been deprived of educational opportunities.
Kevin P. Chavous, Virginia Walden Ford, Rev. Anthony Motley, Dr. Howard Fuller, Gerard Robinson, and Darrell Allison engaged in a dramatic act of civil disobedience by blocking the entrance of the U.S. Department of Education this morning.
Their only request was a public statement from President Obama or Secretary Duncan about why the Administration wants to eliminate the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and the Administration revoked the scholarships of 216 low-income District children.
America deserves answers to these questions. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program must continue, and President Obama has the power to lead on this issue.
Today’s actions send a clear message that D.C. residents are serious about protecting the wellbeing and educational futures of low-income children. President Obama and Secretary Duncan owe it to D.C. schoolchildren to face the cameras today and explain why their commitment to “fund what works, regardless of ideology” doesn’t apply to low-income D.C. school children.
We, the undersigned, applaud today’s protesters for taking extraordinary steps toward highlighting the plight of children in the District of Columbia and around the country.
Sincerely,
The Hon. Anthony A. Williams
Former Mayor, District of Columbia
The Hon. Marion Barry
Member, D.C. City Council
The Hon. Harry Thomas, Jr.
Member, D.C. City Council
The Hon. T. Willard Fair
President, Greater Miami Urban League
The Hon. Kenneth Blackwell
Senior Fellow, Family Research Council
The Hon. Eva Moskowitz
President, CEO Success Charter Network
The Hon. Chris Saxman & Ms. Whitney Duff
School Choice Virginia
The Hon. Lisa Graham Keegan
Former Arizona State Superintendent of Schools
Jeanne Allen
President, The Center for Education Reform
Chad Aldis
Executive Director, School Choice Ohio
Anthony J. Colón
Education Reform Activist
Maudine R. Cooper
President, Greater Washington Urban League
Vernard Gant
Association of Christian Schools International
Rabbi Yehiel Kalish
Agudath Israel of America
John F. Kirtley
Chairman, Florida School Choice Fund
Jimmy LaSalvia
Executive Director, GOProud, Inc.
Andy LeFevre
Executive Director, REACH Foundation
Carrie Lukas and Kate Pomeroy
Vice Presidents, Independent Women’s Forum
William J. Mellor
President, Institute for Justice
Susan Mitchell
President, School Choice Wisconsin
Vicki E. Murray, PhD
Project Director, Women for School Choice
Kate Nagle
Rhode Island Scholarship Alliance
Whitney Tilson
T2Partners and The Tilson Funds
George Vradenburg
President, Vradenburg Foundation
Alvin Williams
President & CEO, Black America’s PAC
Johnathan Williams
Founder, The Accelerated School
*Organization names/titles are for identification purposes; letter is signed by individuals.
Some updates from this morning and the “DC 6″ (Updated)
We posted this morning that there were some exciting things taking place today on the school choice front.
We’ll share some of our own thoughts on this later, but we did want to share some of the news coming out of this event.
Ed is Watching has a great update: Thank the D.C. 6 for Taking a Stand for D.C. Scholarship Students. He writes:
While many eyes today were on Obama’s address to schoolchildren from Arlington, Va., which ended up being a lot less controversial than originally reported, a truly exciting education-related event was happening just a few miles away.
Leading advocates of school choice and opportunity for the neediest kids made a real stand in support of the D.C. 216 who had their private tuition scholarships revoked by the U.S. Department of Education. To make a strong public statement, they went beyond making speeches from a podium or talking to a news reporter.
You can read online the full press release issued following this morning’s standoff at the US Department of Education.
The Washington Post also shares a quick update.
These leaders took a stand this morning, fighting for the new civil rights issue of our time: education. We firmly believe that we can no longer sit idly by and allow special interests to limit us to an outdated educational model that is not working for too many families.
—–
Update: Wanted to share another great update from the Heritage Foundation’s Dan Lips over at National Review Online: Civil Disobedience for Educational Opportunity
He includes a great quotation from former DC Councilman Kevin Chavous:
“Each and every child is entitled to equal access to the American Dream. Each and every child is entitled to a high quality education. And it is shameful if we give them anything less. That is the last civil-rights challenge for our country. That is why I stand here. That’s why those of who are here before you dedicate our lives to this cause. That’s why you don’t have to arrest us, because we ain’t going nowhere.”
Big day for school choice!
We’ll be posting updates throughout the morning- and of course you can follow us on Twitter for all the latest, but this is going to be an exciting day for the school choice movement.
The Washington Post already has the scoop: Ex-Council Member to Lead Protest of D.C. School Voucher Cuts
School choice advocates, already trying to pressure the White House to reverse an end to school vouchers in the District, are planning to block the entrance of the U.S. Department of Education headquarters starting at 9:30 a.m. this morning.
Former Council member Kevin P. Chavous is leading the effort to bring attention to 216 low-income students who could not enter their private and parochial schools this week because President Barack Obama’s education spending plan cut funds to the controversial program.
Earlier this year, Obama compromised by extending the program to allow 1,716 students currently enrolled in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to graduate. But the compromise nixed scholarships to new students, affecting 216 poised to enter this fall.
We need more GREAT schools
Hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend- and for those who start school next week, hope you enjoy your last weekend of summer!
So Secretary Duncan was out in California this week- invited by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to participate in a town hall forum on education, charter schools and education reform. We think it is great that Californians are finally focusing on education reforms- as we saw recently with the Los Angeles schools.
After his own remarks, Duncan took a few questions from the audience. The Sacramento Press reports:
When asked about his opinion on charter schools, Duncan said, “I’m not a fan of charter schools. I’m a fan of good charter schools.”
“What we need in our country is more good schools, and a number of things have to happen; charters are a piece of the solution - never the solution,” he added.
This country doesn’t only need more good schools- it needs more great schools. EVERY child deserves the opportunity to go to a great school.
Taking Sec. Duncan’s first response, that he’s not a fan of charters, just “good” charter schools- well shouldn’t he say the same thing about the public schools? That he’s not a fan of public schools- just “good” public schools? Should parents be forced to settle for an underperforming school? And isn’t that what protecting the status quo does?
What about the 216 children in DC who have been denied their scholarships from the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program- scholarships they were promised, only to have them revoked by Sec. Duncan? Don’t they deserve a good school? Surely Sec. Duncan is aware of the state of DC public schools- he himself admitted he moved to Arlington instead of DC to ensure his own children could go to a good school.
Sec. Duncan is right- charter schools are a piece of the solution to creating more great schools in this country. Sure, not every charter school works perfectly- but is that a reason not to try? Not every public school works perfectly either- yet this hasn’t seemed to stop anyone from continuing to give them more and more money even when they don’t perform.
What Sec. Duncan seems to really miss in all this is the opportunity to say that CHOICE is a part of the solution. If the administration is serious about real reforms- don’t just tweak around the edges; don’t cave in from pressure from the unions; don’t placate the status quo with more money. Demand real change. Demand real results. And give parents a real say in the education of their children. Lip-service to “parental involvement” won’t produce results, put some real control back in their hands.
There’s no silver bullet here to fix education in this country. But a vibrant system of diverse options seems like a pretty solid start. Then you have a market that can truly force out the bad schools- be they public, private, charter, etc- and give parents real alternatives that can help their children to succeed.
