Real change in American politics can seem impossible. Historically, some of our most desperately needed changes have faced the longest odds.
Those of us who grew up during the civil-rights era can appreciate the importance of courage and persistence in facing the biggest challenges. Imagine how different our country would be today if the marchers in Selma had stopped in their tracks — knowing the opposition that awaited them on the bridge to Montgomery — or if Mrs. Parks had given up her seat.
Every generation owes a debt of gratitude to those who came before and fought to make things right. And we can try to pay that debt by fighting to right the wrongs of our time.
In 2009, few wrongs are greater than the inequality that endures in American education. More than a half century after the Supreme Court rejected segregation in our nation’s schools, minority children are still less likely to receive a quality education.
Here in the nation’s capital, generations of children have passed through the District’s public schools without being prepared to succeed in life. Historically, they have been told by the government which school to attend, and if that school wasn’t good, they have been told by politicians that reform was underway and things would be better soon.
But these promises have never materialized. Today the District continues to have one of the lowest-performing school systems in the country. Barely half of the students in the District graduate from high school. Standardized tests show that most D.C. kids aren’t mastering even the most basic skills in reading and math.
Across the District, parents recognize that their children deserve better. Some of these families are fortunate enough to have more options, thanks to charter schools and open enrollment. But too many continue to be denied the opportunity to choose a good school for their children. Just ask the parents of the thousands of kids on charter-school waiting lists, and those whose out-of-boundary placement requests were denied.
In 2003, DC Parents for School Choice rallied hundreds of parents from across the District to do something about it. We organized behind a simple idea — that low-income families should have the power to choose the best school for their children. From the start, we knew we faced long odds, but we headed to Capitol Hill anyway.
In a town of lobbyists, walking the halls of Congress may not seem like an adventure, but for our parents, it was an important journey — the first real chance they’d had to make their voices heard. Office by office, we told our stories. We talked about the problems our kids were having in the public schools. We explained why they deserved something better. We heard the word “no” more times than I’d like to remember. But we never gave up, because we remembered what was at stake.
In 2004, our dreams were fulfilled. By a close vote, Congress passed the D.C. School Choice Incentive Act, which created a new school-voucher program to help low-income families choose private schools for their children (along with providing more federal funding for traditional public and charter schools).
Over the past five years, the scholarship program has provided hope to thousands of families. Now parents are more optimistic about their children’s futures; they are in safe schools where they receive quality instruction. Children who started two or three grade-levels behind are now catching up and planning for college. The program is so popular that the Washington Scholarship Fund, which administers the program, has received about four applications for each available scholarship.
Despite this success, many lawmakers in Congress are now talking about ending the program. Parents can’t understand why. Most don’t follow politics. But they see their children making progress, and they want them to stay in their good schools. And they think those students’ little brothers and sisters — and their neighbors’ children — deserve the same opportunities.
Now even some school-choice supporters, including the Washington Post’s Jay Mathews in a recent column, are counseling us to give up. Even though we are right, he says, and have moral authority on our side, the political resistance is just too strong. The odds are too long.
But we understand that giving up isn’t an option. And so we will continue to fight until all children, regardless of background, can receive a good education. Our children — and future generations — deserve nothing less.
– Virginia Walden Ford is the executive director of DC Parents for School Choice.