The first school choice programs were created in Detroit, Michigan in 1990, then in inner-city Cleveland, OH to free inner-city youth from a failing education system and give them the tools to escape the shackles of poverty.
Those programs enjoyed bipartisan support resulting in hundreds of thousands of inner-city kids benefiting immensely. School choice continues to level educational playing fields across the nation. That’s not rhetoric, it’s a quantifiable fact.
So, when I read NAACP President Rev. Randolph’s “In My View” in the other newspaper I was dumbfounded and had to respond.
For whatever reason, opponents persist in calling Amendment 2 a “voucher scheme.” Nowhere in the language does it say “vouchers.” Not that there is anything wrong with vouchers, but that is a false flag argument. Aside from that, “Support Education Excellence in Kentucky” (SEEK) cannot follow a student from a public school to a private school. It can only follow the student from public to public schools.
It is the lack of state “oversight” of curriculum that makes private schools so appealing. The Kentucky Deptartment of Education has lost its way. Owensboro High School earned competency scores of 29% in both reading and math yet were “green-lighted” by KDE. True accountability begins and ends with parents and is long overdue.
Of the 50 states, Kentucky and North Dakota stand alone as the only two that offer no choice. Not so coincidentally, Kentucky ranks near the bottom in education. Anyone with experience in business or sports knows competition breeds excellence. Competition for students creates accountability – not to the state, but to parents. Isn’t that where accountability belongs? Make schools earn the privilege of educating our kids. The perfect example is Florida, where they offer every imaginable version of school choice. And for the second year in a row, they are the highest ranked state in the union for education. All schools, including public school, are excelling.
Rev. Randolph’s fears are unfounded. One hundred seventy-five empirical studies on the effectiveness of these programs have been published. This research overwhelmingly shows that school choice is a tremendous benefit to all – students, parents, teachers and all participating schools. Being so late to the game may serve as an advantage for us here in Kentucky. We have the luxury of seeing what has worked and what hasn’t. For more information and evidence of school choice success, see edChoice.org’s site for all of these studies.
When Rev. Randolph says, “private schools will choose who they want to attend and leave poor students, students with disabilities, and minority students with no choice,” it’s clearer she doesn’t understand the intent and documented results of school choice programs.
They were conceived, implemented and continue to exist to level the playing field. The very people she named stand to gain the most. Every parent, regardless of station, race, or circumstance deserves an opportunity to provide their children with the best education available. No one knows what that looks like better than parents.
When Rev. Randolph says “… there are fewer private schools in our community and a change to the Kentucky Constitution would benefit students who already attend private schools,” it’s even clearer that she doesn’t understand this issue. She’s so focused on denying those already in private schools an “advantage” that she will deny those set to benefit most, low-income families, a tremendous leg up. I must call her out for insinuating this is somehow an advantage. Removing an inequitable, discriminatory obstacle cannot be considered an advantage. Was the Civil Rights Act an “advantage?” Was recognizing a woman’s right to vote an “advantage?” No, of course not. They levelled the playing field. That is what school choice does.
One thing Rev. Randolph and I agree on are the wise words of Fredrick Douglass, “It is easier to build strong children, than repair broken men.” It’s time to start filling our children with quality education, so we can stop filling our jails.
Choice is not a threat to public schools, it’s a threat to the stranglehold the KEA and NEA have on our public schools. Recent Kentucky Registry of Election Finance (KREF) reports show that the largest most vocal opponent of school choice, “Protect Our Schools Kentucky” is almost completely funded by the NEA, KEA, and Jefferson County Teachers Association to the tune of 2.9 million dollars.
We must ask why Reverend Randolph has taken a position counter to Black leaders across the Commonwealth and even the nation? Has she allowed her allegiance to the Democratic Party to cloud her judgement yet again?
Written by
Jerry Chapman
Chairman, Daviess County Citizens for Decency
