Rice: "The key to not being trapped in the circumstances of your birth is a quality education"

Dr. Condoleezza Rice called educational choice the most important education reform she sees today, as more than 800 reformers, community business members, legislators and educators listened intently to the panel discussion at the 2013 Leadership for Change! Louisiana Education Excellence Summit.

“They key to not being trapped in the circumstances of your birth is a quality education,” Rice said.  “It doesn’t matter where you come from; it matters where you are going.”

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, writer and journalist Campbell Brown, Former California Democratic Majority Leader Dr. Gloria Romero and former Louisiana State Senator Ann Duplessis all joined in the panel discussions about education reform in Louisiana, with the American Federation for Children’s executive counsel Kevin Chavous moderating.

“What is NOT a measure of success is the same ol’, same ol’,” Chavous said.

That’s why Louisiana’s legislators are fighting hard this legislative session, which began April 8, to protect the landmark Louisiana Scholarship Program that was expanded by a bipartisan group of legislators in 2012.  It allows students from low-to-middle income families with students enrolled failing and low-performing schools to use a scholarship to attend the school of their choice.  Students entering kindergarten for the first time who meet the income limits are also eligible.

Former Secretary of State Rice told the audience that Korean children learn in third grade what children in fifth grade learn in the United States, “even in the best of schools.”  Rice encouraged everyone to remember to fight back against the pervasive soft bigotry of low expectations when it comes to K-12 education.

That’s precisely why Gloria Romero said Louisiana’s education reforms are key: “If you don’t educate, you will incarcerate.  We’re spending all this money to lock up the failed result of our public education system.”

Despite bills taking aim at the Louisiana Scholarship Program during this year’s legislative session, Governor Jindal is standing strong to protect the reforms that are serving nearly 5,000 children across Louisiana.

“We’ll pass these reforms as many times as it takes to provide the kids of Louisiana with a quality education,” Jindal said.

Convention Recap: How Did School Choice Play at the GOP Convention?

During last week’s Republican National Convention, education reform emerged as one of the major issues addressed by keynote speakers.  Here’s the rundown of the top school choice moments of the GOP Convention:

Condoleezza Rice

The former secretary of state wowed the crowd when she spoke about what she called the civil rights issue of our time: our K-12 education reform. Read more about her comments here, and watch the accompanying video:

Jeb Bush

The former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, welcomed the convention to his home state.  He spoke of the successes of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and what school choice would mean for America:

We say that every child in America has an equal opportunity, but tell that to a kid in whose classroom learning is not respected.  Tell that to a parent stuck at a school where there is no leadership.  Tell that to young, talented teacher who just got laid off because she didn't have tenure.  The sad truth is that equality of opportunity doesn't exist in many of our schools.  We give some kids a chance, but not all.  That failure is the great moral and economic issue of our time and it is hurting all of America.

I believe we can meet this challenge.  We need to set high standards for students and teachers, and provide students and their parents the choices they deserve.

[…]

So, my question to you is, shouldn't parents have that kind of choice in schools that best meets the needs of their students?

Governor Romney gets its.  Mitt Romney gets it.  He believes parents, regardless of zip code or income, should be
able to send their child to the school that fits them best.

That has set him up against some entrenched interests. There are many draw the line at school choice.  ``Sorry, kid.

Giving you equal opportunity would be too risky, and it would upset powerful political forces that we need to win elections.'' I have a simple message for these masters of delay and deferral. Choose -- you can either help the politically powerful unions, or you can help the kids.

Frantz Placide

Frantz Placide spoke about his success thanks to the school choice initiatives in Florida.  Check out what Placide, a successful student as a result of school choice, had to say in the video below:

Chris Matthews

After Gov. Bush spoke, MSNBC host Chris Matthews argued in support of school choice during a segment with Ed Schultz and Al Sharpton:

There are a lot of people out there who live in opportunity scholarship, any chance for a better education for their children.

The way you do that is through opportunity and competition, not by stifling the hopes of kids in terrible neighborhoods.

The GOP convention addressed education reform and school choice, and later this week, School Choice Now! will analyze how the Democrats will address education reform at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG