Most inner-city public schools are a disaster. A war zone. Students who want to learn...teachers who want to teach...are terrorized by drugs, gangs, and crime.

Black students, especially in inner cities, are at higher risk in many ways. They NEED a good education to overcome some of the obstacles they face. And these public schools are doing NOTHING for them.

• According to government statistics, 42 percent of 17 year-old blacks are functionally illiterate.[1] 42 percent!
• The dropout rate for black students is nearly twice that for white students.[2]

There is a solution: school choice. Instead of having money taken from them to fund failing schools, instituting a voucher system would empower parents to send their children to schools that educate—rather than just warehouse—their children.

Support for vouchers is higher among blacks than any other segment of the population---75% of black parents want to have a choice in where and how their children are educated.[3] Among blacks age 26-35, support for vouchers is even higher—86 percent!

In 2005, Congressional Republicans started a voucher program in Washington D.C. that is having amazing benefits for black students. According to the New York Times, the program is...

"winning over minority parents, traditionally a Democratic constituency. Washington's African-American mayor, Anthony A. Williams, joined Republicans in supporting the program... In doing so, Mr. Williams ignored the ire of fellow Democrats, labor unions and advocates of public schools."[4]

For years, the Democratic party has consistently voted against school choice programs. Even today, both of their presidential candidates oppose them.[5] [6] In 2006, Hillary Clinton said that vouchers are a bad idea because parents could use them to send their children to schools that will teach them how to be terrorists.[7] Is that why you want school choice? To make your kids into terrorists?

Why would Democrats oppose something that so many blacks want...something that is working so well?

In part, it is because the teachers' unions oppose vouchers, and they give a lot of money to the Democrats. Since 1990, the National Education Association have given 93% of their donations—$25.5 million—to the Democratic Party.[8] The Democrats need that money.

But is money the only reason?

Who stands to gain the most from having a population dependent on the government rather than on themselves? Who stands to gain from people staying poor, under-educated, and angry?

During the days of slavery, slave owners prevented their slaves from learning to read and write. They saw an educated slave as a threat. Is it possible that less has changed than we would hope?

It's time we asked some hard questions of our political leaders.

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