After all, the most typical advocates of wide-open school choice are conservative Republicans and libertarians; the staunchest opponents tend to be Democratic and liberal, and can usually count on blacks and Hispanics as political allies.
But in cities where tuition vouchers, charter schools, and large-scale private scholarships are available, such options have proved popular and are quietly attracting more minority parents. People of color are now emerging as vocal and visible leaders in the school choice movement, and parents are increasingly listening to their messages.
School choice, its advocates say, can no longer be dismissed as a white, conservative movement that takes advantage of unwitting minority families.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to make the complaint if all of the folks leading the school choice movement are white, and all of the complainants are black,鈥 said T. Willard Fair, the president of the Urban League of Greater Miami, which operates a charter school. 鈥淣ow, you鈥檝e got people on the other side who are credible, who are legitimate, who have a history of being concerned, and have no economic or political interest that is obvious.鈥
Proponents of school choice have yet to sway large numbers of parents of any racial or ethnic background into their camp. About 90 percent of America鈥檚 students attend public schools. Polls and surveys on school choice often yield conflicting results. And voters in California and Michigan soundly defeated voucher initiatives last year.
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Yet there鈥檚 a strong undercurrent of support for alternatives from African-Americans and Latinos who have gravitated toward school choice鈥攆rom charter schools, which are considered a less radical step, to publicly financed vouchers that pay for tuition at private schools. Many minority parents are impatient at what they see as the plodding pace of school reform; they鈥檙e concerned that their own children won鈥檛 benefit from long-term improvements to the current public school system.
Some national education-watchers believe that minority parents鈥 growing interest in school choice demands greater attention.
鈥淭his new movement from communities of color and low-income parents is certainly a threat to leaders in public education,鈥 said Warren S. Simmons, the executive director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform in Providence, R.I. 鈥淚f these parents opt out, who is the constituency in these urban areas?鈥
Signs of 鈥楻estlessness鈥
In Dayton, a total of 6,000 students are expected to be enrolled in charter schools in that southwestern Ohio city by next fall. About 1,000 more Milwaukee students are using state-financed vouchers to attend private schools this year, bringing the total number of students using vouchers to 10,700. The private, New York City-based Children鈥檚 Scholarship Fund received 1.25 million applicants for 40,000 scholarships to attend private schools in 1999.
What do those number mean?
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sign of the restlessness with the state of play in public schools,鈥 acknowledged Hugh B. Price, the president of the New York City-based National Urban League and an opponent of publicly financed vouchers for private schooling. 鈥淚 understand the restlessness of people.鈥
That sign has yet to be addressed by the leadership of civil rights organizations, politicians, and teachers鈥 unions, argues Terry M. Moe, the author of 69传媒, Vouchers, and the American Public.
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鈥淭heir own constituents鈥攑oor people and minorities鈥攁re the ones in the worst schools and the biggest supporters of school choice,鈥 Mr. Moe asserted, citing his research that found that high percentages of African- Americans, Hispanics, and low-income people backed vouchers. 鈥淯nder normal circumstances, they would support their constituents.鈥
Mr. Moe added that the teachers鈥 unions, whose interests are rooted in the current system, seem to be the key obstacle to advancing the dialogue about school choice in political and civil rights organizations.
But John H. Jackson, the national education director for the Baltimore, Md.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said its members want high-quality education in their neighborhoods, not an unstable 鈥渃orporate movement,鈥 as he calls the push for choice.
Bob Chase, the president of the National Education Association, also disputed Mr. Moe鈥檚 contention. He pointed to the overwhelming support the union received from minority voters in its successful efforts last year to defeat the voucher proposals on the statewide ballots in California and Michigan.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not out of touch,鈥 Mr. Chase declared. 鈥淎ccording to the votes, we鈥檙e not out of touch. Those are the facts.鈥
鈥業t's a sign of the restlessness with the state of play in public schools.鈥
While Mr. Moe conceded that the unions were unlikely to change their positions on vouchers, he said that in the case of civil rights groups, older leaders would be replaced by a younger generation more supportive of such options.
In fact, new organizations have emerged during the past year to take up the charge for minority parents who support a wide range of choices in education. The Black Alliance for Educational Options, which reports a membership of 1,000 people and 23 chapters across the country, was founded in Milwaukee last year to push for school choice and public school improvement.
Kaleem Caire, the president of BAEO, which is now located in Washington, said that his organization鈥檚 base is growing while the NAACP鈥檚 base is aging. BAEO launched a national advertising campaign this year promoting the benefits of vouchers and charter schools. (鈥淏lack Alliance Weighs in With Pro-Voucher Campaign,鈥 May 30, 2001.)
鈥淚f black folks sit on the sidelines of the school reform effort,鈥 Mr. Caire said, 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to be left behind again.鈥
Similarly, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, which was formed this year, hopes to help Hispanics gain access to vouchers, charter schools, and magnet schools to improve students鈥 academic achievement.
Robert B. Aguirre, who is a board member of the San Antonio Children鈥檚 Educational Opportunity Foundation, which provides privately financed vouchers for children living in that city, founded the Hispanic council. The new organization must also be concerned about the quality of public education, he said, since most Hispanic children attend public schools.
Still, Mr. Aguirre, a local businessman, added that the focus of the Hispanic council is clear: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not concerned about the system. We鈥檙e concerned about the kids.鈥
Charter School Push
As such groups add a new voice to school choice advocacy, some civil rights organizations and community leaders are helping to establish charter schools for minority students. Some school choice advocates say this trend shows that they are warming to education alternatives.
For example, several local affiliates of the National Urban League operate charter schools. NEA affiliates, with support from the national organization, run a handful of charter schools, which are independently operated public schools.
鈥楾his new movement from communities of color and low-income parents is a threat to leaders in public education.鈥
The Washington-based National Council of La Raza, which advocates on behalf of Hispanics, has raised $10 million to create and support 50 charter schools nationwide that will be aimed at Latinos. (鈥淗ispanic Group Quietly Initiates Big Charter Push,鈥 Nov. 21, 2001.)
And the ASPIRA Association, a national organization based in Washington devoted to the education and leadership development of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos, has five charter schools and plans to open more.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely not abandoning our work with traditional public schools,鈥 said Ariana Qui帽ones, the education director for La Raza. 鈥淏ut we do think that sometimes you do need an option that is more readily available.鈥
鈥楲eaving Door Open鈥
Johnny Villamil-Casanova, the executive vice president of ASPIRA, said his organization has worked for 35 years trying to improve public schools by providing students with mentors and tutors and by training parents to run for school board seats. He described running charter schools as a natural extension of that effort, not a departure.
But while support for charter schools in such quarters is growing, most of the groups involved are wary about government- financed vouchers, at least for now.
Mr. Price of the Urban League opposes the use of public money for private schooling because of what he sees as a lack of accountability.
Although La Raza is opposed to vouchers in their current form because they often do not cover the entire cost of tuition, Ms. Qui帽ones characterized the group鈥檚 voucher position as 鈥渓eaving the door open for discussion.鈥 ASPIRA has no official position on vouchers.
The emergence of the national black and Hispanic organizations pressing for school choice鈥攁nd now the National Council of La Raza鈥檚 charter school effort鈥攕how the development of a school choice movement independent of the established minority leadership, said Howard L. Fuller. He is a former superintendent of the Milwaukee public schools and one of the first prominent African-American proponents of vouchers and charter schools.
鈥淭he 鈥榣eadership鈥 is saying one thing, but under that, there鈥檚 a movement of people coming to a different opinion,鈥 according to Mr. Fuller, the president of BAEO鈥檚 board of directors. 鈥淥ver time, it reaches the leadership.鈥
鈥榊ou've got the minority community beginning to emerge on this issue.鈥
Yet school choice proponents who attempt to show the diversity of the movement often cite the same names of African-American supporters: Mr. Fuller, Mr. Fair of the Urban League in Miami, and Dwight Evans, a Philadelphia Democrat and Pennsylvania state representative.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely a select few鈥 African-Americans, said Michael Watson, a vice president of Children First America, a Bentonville, Ark.- based organization that offers private school scholarships to needy students nationwide.
鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a crack in the door and that crack is going to widen,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got the minority community beginning to emerge on this issue.鈥
Both Jeanne Allen, the president of the Center for Education Reform, a Washington-based research and advocacy group that supports school choice, and Mr. Fuller said they see a change in the minority community based on reactions at their own speaking engagements.
Ten years ago, Ms. Allen said, she was booed at a National Council of La Raza event. Now, people at least listen to Ms. Allen and Mr. Fuller at such gatherings.
What Ms. Allen describes as the myth that a 鈥渂unch of white, public-education-hating people with horns鈥 are pushing school choice is finally being exposed, she said.
鈥淟ittle by little, they鈥檙e introduced to people who don鈥檛 have horns,鈥 she added.
Mixed Messages
Recent public-opinion surveys about charter schools and vouchers yield varying results, making it difficult to determine with precision the prevailing mood about school choice among minorities.
A 1999 survey of 1,200 adults by Public Agenda, a New York City-based, nonprofit opinion- research group, found that 68 percent of African-Americans and 65 percent of Hispanics 鈥渟trongly favor鈥 or 鈥渟omewhat favor鈥 government-financed vouchers.
A National School Boards Association-sponsored survey of about 1,211 adults this past May found that 41 percent of the African-Americans polled 鈥渟trongly oppose鈥 vouchers, while 19 percent 鈥渟trongly favor鈥 them.
The National Urban League鈥檚 鈥淪tate of Black America Survey for 2001" found that 58 percent of the 800 black adults polled said that education tax dollars should be used solely for public schools. But 52 percent of the respondents favored the creation of charter schools.
Generation Gap
Meanwhile, a generation gap seems to be emerging among African- Americans when it comes to opinions about school choice.
A poll by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington think tank that focuses on black issues, found that about 57 percent of the African-Americans surveyed supported vouchers, compared with 49 percent of all of those surveyed of any race. For African-Americans under age 35, however, the proportion approving of vouchers climbed to 75 percent. The center did not survey Hispanics.
A generation gap seems to be emerging among African-Americans when it comes to opinions about school choice.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like black parents or Hispanic parents have some philosophical preference for alternative types of education settings,鈥 said David A. Bositis, a senior political analyst for the center. 鈥淚t鈥檚 rather how satisfied they are with local public schools.鈥
Older African-Americans are more pro-government and suspicious of the conservatives who back school choice, Mr. Bositis pointed out.
Mr. Jackson of the NAACP said the younger African-American generation did not grow up in a time when black people couldn鈥檛 eat at certain restaurants because of their race and were barred in many states from attending public schools with whites.
鈥淲e need to link with our historical past to change the institutions,鈥 he said, rather than forsake the public system.
Less Committed?
While agreeing that the struggles of previous generations should be honored, some stress that the social landscape is different today.
African-American parents in their late 20s and early 30s are simply seeking the best education possible for their children, said Vernard T. Gant, the director of urban school services for the Association of Christian 69传媒 International, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based group representing 3,800 religious schools.
Younger blacks are less committed to institutions and systems, he said, which is why they often are more accepting of educational options outside the public schools.
Mr. Gant, who formerly ran private schools in Birmingham, Ala., noted that there is a history of black families sending their children to private schools. His mother, for example, sent Mr. Gant and his four brothers to a Lutheran school in Mobile until the family could afford to move to the suburbs and attend public schools there.
But in some quarters, if African-Americans don鈥檛 see school choice through 鈥渢he lenses of the past,鈥 said Mr. Fair of the Urban League in Miami, others in the community believe they have 鈥渟old out.鈥 Blacks who are receptive to school choice may be silenced and ostracized, he said, and meanwhile have no options for their children.
鈥淭here has been a paradigm shift, emotionally and psychologically,鈥 Mr. Fair said of the sentiment in favor of school choice. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 afford to play around.鈥
Impatient With Waiting
Most parents have been waiting patiently for better schools in their communities, but to no avail, Mr. Simmons of the Annenberg Institute said. Individual schools have achieved innovation and success, he said, yet 鈥渨e鈥檙e not creating communities of successful schools.鈥
鈥淢ost people are unwilling to sacrifice their children to support their ideology,鈥 Mr. Simmons warned.
It is that impatience that has driven more African-Americans and Hispanics to view school choice as a way to improve their children鈥檚 educational opportunities, many observers say.
鈥榃hat I really want is for black folks to take the public schools back and not leave the public schools.鈥
While there must be a multipronged approach to improving education, Ms. Qui帽ones of La Raza said, 鈥渟ome communities鈥 needs are so great, parents aren鈥檛 willing to wait.鈥
But Mr. Jackson of the NAACP countered that parents must wait for education reform, especially in the absence of proven alternatives. Rather than support vouchers, the NAACP launched a national campaign last month that will work to end racial inequities in public schools, colleges, and universities.
In a related effort, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators last week announced legislative strategies to target the achievement gap between minority students and their white classmates.
And Shirley Igo, the president of the National PTA, cautioned that parents must ensure that exercising choice 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 negatively impact on the 90 percent of children in public schools.鈥
That may be a difficult responsibility for parents to fulfill in some communities, such as the nation鈥檚 capital, which has seen tremendous growth in charter school enrollment.
鈥淚 think the schools in D.C. are in such horrendous shape I could never begrudge a parent for trying to make the right decision for their child,鈥 said Peggy Cooper Cafritz, the president of the District of Columbia school board.
While she believes Washington鈥檚 schools will improve, that will only happen if the community supports public schools, she said.
鈥淲e absolutely have an overarching duty to support public education, but I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 just an African-American thing or a Jewish thing,鈥 Ms. Cafritz said. 鈥淓very single group has benefited from it. As a nation, we cannot splinter that commitment.鈥
For some African-Americans, as urban districts struggle to reach their children, charter schools and vouchers are 鈥渋n the meantime鈥 solutions, said Imani Bazzell, a parent coordinator with African-Americans for Accountability in Education, a community group in Champaign, Ill. Those who are disillusioned with public education, she said, often decide that they will create their own schools.
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 real nervous about the bedfellows,鈥 Ms. Bazzell, the mother of three public school children, said, alluding to the political conservatives and corporate leaders who support school choice. 鈥淲hat I really want is for black folks to take the public schools back and not leave the public schools.鈥
The Choice Challenge
Striking a precarious balance between providing parents with viable education alternatives while continuing to support a struggling school system consumes the Rev. Vanessa Oliver Ward.
Ms. Ward and her husband, the Rev. Daryl Ward, lead the Omega Baptist Church, one of the largest African-American churches in Dayton.
Three years ago, the church 鈥渁dopted鈥 a public elementary school, where members of the congregation volunteer their time as tutors and mentors. The church also ran an after-school program for students.
鈥業 could never begrudge a parent for trying to make the right decision for their child.鈥
Then, last year, Ms. Ward helped open a charter school for middle school students, although the church membership favored starting a private religious elementary school. Currently, 150 students, including one of her children, attend the school, which is housed in the church. Her other children attend a private school.
Ms. Ward admitted that opening the Omega School of Excellence has been a 鈥渕ajor challenge鈥 because many of the church鈥檚 4,000 members are public school employees. The tension was palpable in the city as the district鈥檚 enrollment decreased by about 4,700 children since 1996, and charter schools attracted more students, she said.
Still, the 19-year-old church鈥檚 young congregation was willing to try something new.
While Ms. Ward is the charter school鈥檚 director, her congregation continues to play a visible role in the school district. This fall, an Omega Baptist Church member was part of a slate of successful 鈥渞eform- minded鈥 candidates that was elected to Dayton鈥檚 school board.
鈥淲e felt such urgency that we had to address the issue of our children not being educated,鈥 Ms. Ward said about starting the charter school. 鈥淲e have to find a solution.
鈥淏ut at the same time, you have to support the public school district.鈥
