Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels recently argued that Minneapolis public schools are failing in educating Black students. In his February 11 Star Tribune counterpoint, Samuels pointed out that the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) is among several local groups agreeing to help bring in educational experts to Minneapolis this spring.
What is BAEO? It was founded in 1999 by Marquette University professor and former Milwaukee Public School superintendent Dr. Howard Fuller after an educational conference held at the school which drew over 500 Black parents, students, community leaders, educators and others in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On its web site (www.baeo.org), its mission statement says, �[it] actively supports parental choice to empower families and increase quality educational options for Black children.�
However, since its beginnings, BAEO�s true purpose has been questioned. The People for the American Way dedicate an entire section to BAEO on its web site (www.pfaw.org): �Community Voice or Captive of the Right?� The group claims that the Walton Family Foundation, Bradley Foundation, Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation and the American Education Reform Council � all considered right-wing organizations � each contributed funds to BAEO, which totaled almost $1 million in start-up funds.
The group promotes a right-wing agenda, said the Black Commentator in several commentaries. However, BAEO Director of Information Tola Thompson strongly disagrees. Speaking by phone from Washington, D.C., he briefly addressed the charge.
�One, we�re not anti-public schools,� claimed Thompson. �Number two, we�re not left wing or right wing, Democrat or Republican. We�re dedicated to ensuring that all kids get the best education possible. People become a little edgy when you try to upset the status quo.�
Furthermore, BAEO receiving funds from Walton doesn�t make them right wing, he added. �We do receive money from Walton � they give money to a number of organizations. They also gave a million dollars in scholarships to Florida A&M; University [a historically Black college] but nobody has ripped them. We also receive from the Bill Gates Foundation.
�We have been unfairly attacked and criticized for taking money from Walton,� continued Thompson.
However, it may be understandable why the organization is seen by some this way. Right-wing talk show host Armstrong Williams, who once accepted money from the Bush administration to promote its educational agendas on his shows, is a former BAEO board member, and several current members have fueled conflict-of-interest questions.
Former Detroit school superintendent Deborah McGriff, who is married to Fuller, is senior vice-president of Edison Charter Schools, which operates for-profit charter schools in 21 states. She reportedly once had $3 million in Edison stock options. �Our mission is to provide a world-class education for all students at an affordable price,� wrote McGriff in an October 1996 article about Edison published by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
Jacqueline Cissell, community relations director of Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation, which supposedly is funded by the Friedman and Bradley foundations; former U.S. Representative Floyd Flake, president of Edison; former Ohio secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell, who unsuccessfully ran for Ohio governor as a Republican, and Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker are also current BAEO board members.
�I�m not White and I�m not right wing,� said Chanda Smith. She, Tiffany Green and Sondra Hollinger-Samuels, Council Member Samuels� wife, are BAEO field consultants in Minnesota. Smith said she first got involved with BAEO after hearing Fuller speak in St. Paul in 2003.
�We officially started the BAEO effort here in the Twin Cities last year,� she added.
Samuels explained that she joined BAEO in 2004. She was impressed with the organization�s mission as well as meeting other Blacks who also are passionate about educating Black children after attending a BAEO annual symposium. �I am not an educator, but I am a person who cares about what is happening in her community, with her community children and this country.�
Smith said BAEO have been well received not only by Blacks but by other groups of color in the area. �Our effort last year was mostly to introduce the organization, develop the infrastructure, and do some outreach,� such as parent seminars, she explained.
Both Smith and Samuels said the issue isn�t about BAEO but parent choice. Everyone in America has choices except low-income families, said Samuels. �Low-income people can�t just move to the best school system, [and they] might not want their kids on a bus for an hour and a half.� Low-income Black parents must have �quality innovated public schools, quality charter schools, quality private-public partnerships and quality home schooling,� she added.
Though the Samuels family have two daughters in a North Minneapolis Catholic school, she �is not anti-public education,� noted Sondra Samuels.
�I�m an African American parent,� continued Smith, �and school choice works for me and my family.� She has a daughter in a Minneapolis elementary school and another child in private school � Smith believes that parents should be able to select the school that fits their child�s educational needs. �Income or geography should not limit where your child can attend school,� she concurred.
�We are not against public schools,� noted Thompson on BAEO. �We support quality education for low-income and working-class Black parents, and [people should] allow them to choose the education which works best to educate their kids.�
Smith added that BAEO do not encourage parents to take their children out of public schools and instead attend private or charter schools. �That is not what we do. We educate parents on what their choices are; then it is up to them to choose.�
�The way we deliver public education has to change now,� continued Samuels. �I don�t think there is any one answer � I don�t want to just blame the teachers or blame the parents.� Public education for Blacks �is a failed promise in America. There never has been a time in America when the educational system has worked for Black kids,� she added.
If and when graduation rates and achievement gaps between Black and White students improve nationwide, �there won�t be a need for (BAEO),� noted Thompson.
The issue of school choice was first introduced in this area in the 1980s, but Don Samuels� recent comments last month during an interview in a local monthly magazine and his Star Tribune commentary has renewed interest in the topic.
�I think BAEO got wrapped into this discussion that Don started about North High,� Smith said. �It�s unfortunate because Tiffany, Sondra and I have done some great work here in the Twin Cities. We are not doing this full time. We work a lot of hours as a volunteer.�
School choice �is the biggest issue in the Black community,� noted Sondra Samuels.
Some believe the use of vouchers is a good alternative for low income Black parents in choosing the right school for their children. �We believe in choice, and vouchers are one of those choices,� concluded Smith.
Next: the pros and cons of vouchers � do they help or hinder Blacks?
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to [email protected].
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