Crazy Parents for School Choice
By Paul Jacob
In Oregon, a new piece of legislation aims to increase choice in Oregon’s schools.
The bill hasn’t graduated to law yet. So for now it’s worth noting that it didn’t appear from nowhere. People, ordinary people, got involved.
Crazy parents, actually.
Dr. Howard Fuller, the founder of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (or BAEO), visited Portland a while back, and defined “crazy.” He said, “A crazy parent is the one that has the audacity to go up to the school. When they see you coming . . . they like board up the doors . . . ’cause they don’t want you in the school. But you know what? . . . If you went up to these schools and people knew that if they didn’t treat your child right that you [were] going to take your child — and when your child leaves, the money leaves — there’d be a different discussion about your child.”Portland BAEO members brought Fuller to their community. And they formed an alliance with a local think tank, the Cascade Policy Institute. Together, they wrote a law that has a chance of passing.
Dr. Fuller is a powerful speaker. And “crazy parents” can talk the talk, too. But both Fuller and the parents know that, no matter how good the talker, it’s money that really talks.
Only when educators have to listen — to people who can affect their livelihoods — will education in this country really improve.
Hey, that’s not crazy at all.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Listen to a MP3 of this episode.
Read more Common Sense at thisiscommonsense.com.
