(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
The Rev.Martin Luther King III, a long-time parental choice supporter, addressed a crowd of 10,000 strong at a rally in Tallahassee yesterday.
“I just find it interesting that in our country we have the gall to debate about how our most precious resource — our children — are treated,” he said.
“My dad, I don’t really know if I can actually speak to what he would speak today, but I can say is that he would always stand up for justice,” he added. “This is about justice.”
Meanwhile the VP of the Florida Education Association, who once referred to children with disabilities and low-income children benefiting from Florida choice programs as “hit dogs” had this to say:
“What are they so afraid of going to the courts to ensure this voucher scheme is legal?” Joanne McCall, the union’s president, asked. “Let’s let the courts decide this once and for all. We’re not dropping our legal challenge.”
Let me get out my Big Chief Tablet and crayons and draw a picture for McCall here really slowly and with bright colors so she can follow along. Why are they so afraid of a judicial assault on their program? That’s easy:
These kids and parents fear losing access to their schools because people like you won’t leave them alone to pursue their dreams.
To Rev. Martin Luther King III this is about justice and the opportunity of children. Joanne McCall says this about adult turf and adult power. If there is a moral difference between redneck governors standing at the school house doors to keep kids out of school with a baseball bat, and union bosses wanting to go into schools to kick kids out of schools with legal baseball bats, the distinction escapes me.
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
On a related note:
I’m in a constant dialogue with friend of mine who insist ‘the data is very clear’ that charter schools don’t outperform regular public schools.
I know all of you have referenced studies that point out how beneficial charter schools are; I’d love to have those references as my friend likes to sort this ‘data is very clear’ without pointing it out directly.
Thanks so much.
Here’s a post by Jay on the subject:
https://jaypgreene.com/2012/05/07/charter-benefits-are-proven-by-the-best-evidence/
And here is a more recent and complete systematic review: http://www.uaedreform.org/downloads/2014/12/no-excuses-charter-schools-a-meta-analysis-of-the-experimental-evidence-on-student-achievement.pdf
Thank you, sir!
Thanks, again!
Pretty strong words there. As a parent of a Step-up-for-Students scholarship recipient, and a regular reader of JPGB, nice to read the shout-out. Florida is an interesting battleground with a very strong teacher’s union, history of excessive testing, and a strong and vocal school-choice movement.
Also, regarding the meta-analysis. Are there any that have been published in peer-reviewed journals?
[…] rally, plans to forge ahead with the lawsuit, claiming that the “voucher scheme is not legal.” Matthew Ladner, senior advisor at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, snapped, “If there is a moral […]
[…] rally, plans to forge ahead with the lawsuit, claiming that the “voucher scheme is not legal.” Matthew Ladner, senior advisor at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, snapped, “If there is a moral […]
[…] rally, plans to forge ahead with the lawsuit, claiming that the “voucher scheme is not legal.” Matthew Ladner, senior advisor at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, snapped, “If there is a moral […]
[…] rally, plans to forge ahead with the lawsuit, claiming that the “voucher scheme is not legal.” Matthew Ladner, senior advisor at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, snapped, “If there is a moral […]