Raspberry’s most famous columns recounted his views of black
families, black communities, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Less known, but still significant for the readers
of the more than 200 papers around the nation that published his columns, were Raspberry’s view on school choice.
Having written dozens of columns and
editorials on school choice, here are some of his most memorable statements on
vouchers for children from low-income families:
“And the question that won’t go away is: If choice is good
for middle-class children, why is it bad for poor children, who without some
sort of subsidy, may find themselves stuck in underperforming schools.”
—September 2003
“As a middle-class parent whose children attend public and
private schools, I can’t see anything particularly noble about denying that
same choice to children who are poor.”
—September 2003
“For some years, I’ve been having my own private
wrestling match over school vouchers—supporting the expansion of choices to
parents who had two few, and worrying over the prospect of draining even more
support from our troubled public schools.
Today, I want you to listen to the mental wrestlings
of man who has arrived solidly on the pro-voucher side of the issue.”
—August 2001
"My
point in the present case, though, is the dead certainty on the part of
teachers unions and other liberal groups that vouchers cannot possibly improve
education for poor children. It's almost as though they'd rather be certain
than try it - even in just three or four cities."
—April 2000
"If
I find myself slowly morphing into a supporter of charter schools and vouchers,
it isn't because I harbor any illusions that there's something magical about
these alternatives. It is because I am increasingly doubtful that the public
schools can do (or at any rate will do) what is necessary to educate poor
minority children."
—June 1998
"Look
at it from the viewpoint of those parents who grab so avidly for the chance to
get their children into better schools: Should they be required to keep their
children in dreadful schools in order to keep those schools from growing even
worse? Should they be made to wait until we get around to improving all the
public schools? . . . Surely voucher opponents cannot believe the logic of
their counterargument: that if you can't save everybody -- whether from a
burning apartment house, a sinking ship or a dreadful school system -- it's
better not to save anybody at all."
—March 1998
“When
Ted Forstmann and John Walton put up $6 million of their own money to provide
scholarships for low-income parents who wanted their children out of the
District of Columbia public schools, there were 7,573 applications—about a
tenth of the total public school enrollment.
These
parents...constitute 7,573 rebuttals to whatever anti-voucher case you care to
make.”
—March 1998
“I recently declared myself a reluctant convert to school
“choice,” a declaration that has dismayed some supporters of public education
and cheered some opponents of what they are pleased to call ‘government
schools.’
At the risk of dismaying both these camps—and perhaps some
others as well—let me try to express more clearly the sad conclusion I’ve
reached: It’s time for some serious experimentation.”
—June 1997
“For
most of us who buy public education, there is no elsewhere. It’s like it or lump it, and millions of our
children are taking their lumps everyday”
—August 1975
Looking at Raspberry's views in the past, and the solidly pro-voucher stance he took in recent years, is simply the latest example that for many folks, this is an issue for which there is room for growth. As we mourn Raspberry's loss and reflect on his remarkable career, we ask that you keep that in mind -- the fight to bring educational options to low-income families exists everywhere.
- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG
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