“The Day After the Election – How do you celebrate for parental choice and education reform?”
The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) – the nation’s leading Black parental choice advocacy organization – applauds the re-election of President Barack Obama, and while the win is historic, our minds, hearts, and efforts remain focused on the low-income and working-class families who are still in dire need of education reform and parental choice. BAEO encourages President Obama to remain committed to the goal of ensuring that the nation’s most vulnerable citizens – children from low-income families – have access to a quality education.
As we move into the next four years, we encourage the President to continue to push innovative thinking around educational quality – programs like Race to the Top, the renewed focus on improving teacher quality, common core, and support for high-quality charter schools, are incredibly important investments for the future of our community and our nation. We are also hopeful that the newly established White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans will help to ensure that our children have access to sound, quality educational options where they live so that they are able to escape the perils of failing schools.
In addition to the President’s re-election, last night also yielded a number of other important education-related legislative and political results across the country as voters adamantly chose to put “children first” in states where the expansion of educational options was on the ballot.
Victory for Charter Schools
Voters in the state of Georgia overwhelmingly decided that enough was enough and passed a constitutional amendment supporting the growth of high-quality public charter schools by allowing the state to authorize new charters. BAEO supports the voters in Georgia and congratulates the elected officials who were bold enough to stand up and fight for the passage of this legislation offering more choice to parents and a voice to its students. Very well done!
In Washington state, while the final tally is not yet in, voters are approaching an historic win that would make Washington the 42ndstate in this country with a public charter school law. After many years of effort and numerous failed attempts, families in Washington will soon have a choice on where they can send their children to school to receive an innovative and high-quality education. Way to go Washington!
The Big Easy
As a huge proponent and front runner for the fight for educational options and equality in the state of Louisiana, it is BAEO’s great pleasure to acknowledge and celebrate the political-win of former BAEO staffer and current friend of BAEO, Ms. Leslie Ellison. Leslie was elected to the New Orleans Parish School Board for District 4 last night. Leslie is a strong visionary and passionate educational leader who believes all children deserve a quality education.
Cleveland Funds Reform
In Ohio, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District petitioned residents to support a multimillion dollar levy to allow Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and CMSD CEO Eric Gordon to fully enact Ohio House Bill 525, known as the Cleveland Plan. The Cleveland Plan is being called one of the most sweeping school transformation plans in the state, and it allows school administrators the power to ensure their schools have the best teachers available with a rigorous curriculum for all students. The Plan also allows for the expansion of charter schools in Cleveland. BAEO applauds this win for Mayor Jackson and all of the students and families in Cleveland, Ohio.
One Big Loss
As much as we can celebrate with our fellow education reformers in Georgia, Washington, New Orleans, and Cleveland, we also must express our dismay and disappointment in the failure to re-elect Tony Bennett as the State Superintendent in Indiana -- a true let down to the education reform movement.
Superintendent Bennett’s aggressive reform agenda was one that created statewide school vouchers for low-income students, revamped teacher evaluations, and focused heavily on holding adults accountable for student learning. He made Indiana the most reformed state in the country. Without the leadership of Superintendent Bennett, BAEO is concerned about the future of educational options for our Black families in Indiana. Who will join us in looking out for their best interests? BAEO mourns the significant loss of such a maverick of education reform as Superintendent Bennett. However, this change signifies to us the critical need for the education reform community to ensure that we are building sustainable, long-term programs with community- and political-level support for people who are on the front lines of this education battle like Superintendent Bennett. We must ensure that we begin today to create greater levels of protection for them. Now is the time, and we are the people to do it.
The election is over. There were some wins and some losses for education reform. At the end of the day, whenever students lose (like in Indiana) then we all lose. BAEO will continue our fight today, tomorrow and as long as there is a Black child or family without the option to receive a high-quality education.
The struggle continues…
For more information on BAEO contact Tanzi West Barbour, National Director of Communications, 202-253-6233 or tanzi@baeo.org.
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