Real Freedom Looks Like Black and Latinx Families Having the Power to Choose Their Own Schools

The Biden administration’s proposed new rules for the Charter Schools Program (CSP) would shift power away from Black families like mine, who support public charters, toward school districts and DC bureaucrats. Specifically, the proposed new CSP rules would require charters to prove ‘unmet demand’ before a new charter school would be eligible for funding.

This requirement ignores the fact that there are often open seats in a district, but they are in schools that are failing students like mine.

Our children shouldn’t be relegated to just any open seat, they deserve a high-quality public education seat.

The same new set of rules would require charter applicants to propose racially and economically diverse models. While having diverse schools is a noble goal, this requirement could limit the ability of charters to serve students in the very neighborhood where they are located.

This is a time when we should be expanding choice for families, not restricting them through burdensome guidelines. If the proposed CSP rules are adopted, Black and Latinx families, like mine, will have far less power to pick the right quality education for our kids.

Here’s How KIPP Stood By My Family

Families need to send their children to a school that provides proper education and support to both students and parents. My family has personally experienced what that looks like. KIPP Public Schools stood by me when I most needed them, and it is my turn to stand by them.

Let me tell you why.

After sending my daughters to parochial schools, just as my mother had done with me, and being more than disappointed with the academic outcomes, I discovered KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools for my youngest, my son Romao. In order to get into a KIPP school, a home visit was required.

My entire village attended the interview. This encounter fortified in my mind that my son was going to receive a quality education. A partnership between my son, the school, and me was born—the Three-Legged Stool.

Read the full article here.