Children of low-income and working-class parents should have the same access to a quality education as their wealthier counterparts.
With this the Black Alliance for Educational Options is standing with a diverse group of 17 education, minority advocacy, religious and social service organizations in the filing of amicus curiae (or �friend of the court�) briefs with the Florida Supreme Court. Together we represent the thousands of needy parents and children who are urging the justices of the Florida Supreme Court to uphold Florida�s Opportunity Scholarships program and thereby preserve critical educational and social service programs that might be jeopardized by a ruling against school choice.
Opportunity Scholarships enable parents in failing public schools to choose better-performing public or private schools for their children, including religious schools.
�We can stand silent and do nothing or we can help solve the problems in education now by supporting these programs that help ensure our children receive the quality education they deserve and � frankly � were promised,� said Lawrence C. Patrick III, President & CEO of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. �We trust the Florida Supreme Court will do its duty in protecting not only the freedom parents to chose but the futures of their children.�
On behalf of the BAEO, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (Hispanic CREO), Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), the Center for Education Reform and the Reason Foundation, the brief argues that social science research shows that �school choice programs benefit not only the children who are able to transfer out of failing public schools, but also the public schools themselves, which, contrary to the factually baseless arguments of some opponents, do not get worse as a result of exposure to competition, but improve.�
Some 50 years after the Brown v Board decision was handed down to lay the foundation for an equal education for all children regardless of race, we continue to find that low-income schoolchildren of color are still underperforming in their studies. Especially in Florida, where � according to a study commissioned by the BAEO � the state�s overall high school completion rate is a sad 59%. Even worse for Black children, that number is at 51%, ranking Florida 49th in graduation rates.
�The children don't exist for the schools. The schools exist for the children,� wrote T. Willard Fair in a letter to the editor of Florida Today, which called for the state�s high court to �kill� the program.
�And if the children are not learning, our first duty is to help them,� the BAEO National Board Member, President of the Urban League of Greater Miami and member of the Florida Board of Education added. �If these were failing public hospitals would you insist that the poor patients ONLY stay put while the government figures out why so many are dying?�
The brief was authored by Prof. G. Marcus Cole of Stanford Law School, Carlos G. Muniz of Gray Robinson in Tallahassee, and of counsel Briscoe R. Smith of the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) is a national organization whose mission is to actively support parental choice to empower families and increase quality educational options for Black children.
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Contact: Leon Tucker, Dir. of Communications
202.429.2513 off.
202.246.3227 cell.
The Black Alliance for Educational Options
1710 Rhode Island Ave. NW Floor 12
Washington, DC 20036