Virginia Walden Ford: "I am offended" by racist Louisiana teachers' union attacks

After the Louisiana Federation of Teachers took to Twitter to spread baseless rumors that the Black Alliance for Educational Options supported “teaching that the KKK is good,” longtime education reformer Virginia Walden Ford, who was instrumental in fighting for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, wrote the following letter:

Last night, I learned that the Louisiana Federation of Teachers took to Twitter to spread a false, ridiculous, and offense rumor.  They claimed that the Black Alliance for Educational Options—an organization that fights to provide a high-quality education to black children—supports teaching that the Kl Klux Klan is good.

I am offended.

The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) is a group that works tirelessly to ensure that black children have access to the best educational options.  The reality is that black children are being left behind: the achievement gap is far too large and more black men are in prisons than in colleges in this country.

In Washington, D.C., I worked side-by-side with BAEO to fight for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.  We worked together because the children of D.C.—just like the children in Louisiana and all across the country—deserve a great education.  It is our duty to ensure that all of our children, especially our disadvantaged children—receive a great education.  And it’s working.  In D.C. scholarship program, more than 85 percent of participating students are African American and the program has a graduation rate of 91 percent.  And just last week, the Brookings Institution and Harvard University released a study that demonstrated that African American students who receive a voucher are 24 percent more likely to enroll in college.

We have come so far as a nation, but we have so more work to do.  Growing up, I attended one the first desegregated high schools in Arkansas.  Today, we have leaders standing up for our children.  Great leaders, from Condoleezza Rice—who just yesterday called our education crisis the social justice issue of our time—to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, are fighting entrenched special interest groups that are more interested in protecting the status quo than in finding solutions to our education crisis.

I believe in school choice because the children that we have been left behind need an educational lifeline and they need it now.  Vouchers provide that opportunity.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers owes BAEO an apology.  I have spent my life working—alongside BAEO and all school choice advocates—to provide a better education for our children.  And I didn’t do it to be accused of supporting a hate group that terrorized a generation of Americans by spreading hate and fear.

—Virginia

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice

Parents Take the Reins on Education Reform

Something amazing is happening in education reform; and it doesn’t have to do with enacting new programs or expanding existing ones.  

It’s about who is leading the fight for these reforms.  For years, special interests have hijacked education policy for their own needs as our education system has fallen more and more behind.

But looking at the news stories about education, one group is continuing to exert its influence: parents.  Once parents could only work through PTAs; but today, parents are voicing their ideas and advocating for real policy changes.  Here are some of the standout ways parents are taking control of education reform:

Parents Know Best: A campaign recently launched by the American Federation for Children that works to stop the attacks on parents because we believe that parents—not bureaucrats—know what’s best for their children.  The Parents Know Best campaign seeks to empower parents to take control of educational choice for their children.  With a video that’s spreading across the internet, this campaign says it all, because parents DO know best.

Kelly Williams-Bolar: The face of parents fighting for education reform starts with Kelly Williams-Bolar—a mother who was jailed and convicted for trying to send her children to a safer school.  Catching the attention of the national media, this mother not only demonstrated the great lengths parents go to provide a quality education, but also showed that too many parents do not have real educational choices for their children.  The idea that a mother would be jailed for trying to provide a safe place for her children shocked the nation.

Parents Unions: In an effort to combat the powerful teachers unions, several “Parents Unions” have popped up across the nation.    Active in Connecticut, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and New York, these organizations advocate for a variety of reforms and serve as a unified force of parents.  Parents—including Williams-Bolar—are coming together to join in the fight for educational choice.  In an Education Week article, Sean Cavanagh writes “If there is a common thread linking the parents’ organizations, though, it’s the belief that parents’ voices have been shut out of policy debates for too long.”

School Choice Parent, Activist Calls for Saving D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program

The following post is from Virginia Walden Ford, the former executive director of D.C. Parents for School Choice. Last summer, Virginia returned to her hometown of Arkansas following the successful reauthorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

For two years, I fought alongside parents, friends, and advocates to save the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.  Supporters from all across the country stood with us to support the children of the District of Columbia.  When I left Washington, D.C. last year, I felt that the program—thanks to heroes like Speaker John Boehner and Senator Joe Lieberman—would serve the District’s children for years to come. 

I was heartbroken to learn that President Obama had—once again—targeted to end this wonderful program.  This is so very wrong. 

The children benefiting from the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program live in neighborhoods just a few miles from the White House.   And once again, they are at risk of losing the opportunity to continue their journey of receiving a quality education in the schools their parents have chosen.

We have witnessed, through their participation in the scholarship program, children thriving academically in the school of their parents’ choice; and we have seen their parents becoming engaged and involved in their education. We have seen children, who had never thought about going to college, enrolling and excelling in some of the finest schools in the nation.  

Before She Departs, D.C.'s School Choice Champion Has One Final Message

We told last month about the impending departure of Virginia Walden Ford, and, most importantly, how much we'll miss her. You'll recall that the foremost champion for school choice in the nation's capital will be heading down to her hometown of Little Rock at the end of this month, and we take solace in knowing that our loss is Arkansas's gain.

But in typical Virginia fashion, she's determined to help kids down to the very end. She wrote a piece published in today's Washington Examiner, reminding readers that despite the reauthorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program in April, the work doesn't stop:

We must fight vigilantly to protect and preserve this program so families will never again be turned away from the chance to access a quality education for their children. 

In the mid-1960s, I was among more than 130 students picked to desegregate public high schools on a large scale in Little Rock. Our nation has made great strides in improving education for all children since then; but our work is far from finished. 

Success is not defined by waiting lists and lottery systems; success is providing all children with an education that will prepare them for a productive and fulfilling life.

She's exactly right. And she would know, because it was Virginia who was there in the 1990s when the thought of introducing a voucher program to Washington, D.C. was dismissed. She was there in 2004 when the program began and enthusiasm was high. And she was also there in 2009 when prospects for the program's future looked especially grim.

And, of course, she was there this year, when her inability to back down from what was right paid off for thousands of kids in the nation's captal. Perhaps no single individual has done more for a single school choice program in this country than Virginia Walden Ford. She was there almost 50 years ago in Little Rock, she's been there for kids in D.C. for 15 years, and now, she's going to be there for a new community.

Everyone is going to be better off as a result.

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

D.C.'s Big Loss

D.C.'s loss is Arkansas' gain. That's the only way we can describe the departure of Virginia Walden Ford from the District of Columbia after 30 years of advocating for low-income kids here. Virginia is going home to Little Rock at the end of July, and we'll sure miss her.

Last night, we joined Speaker John Boehner, Senator Joe Lieberman, Mayor Anthony Williams, Mayor Marion Barry, former Councilman Kevin P. Chavous, and Juan Williams in celebrating Virginia's legacy of revitalizing education for D.C. kids. 

Virginia at one of the many rallies she attended
in order to save the D.C. voucher program.

The most important attendees last night, though (with all due respect, of course, to our legislative champions!), were the children who've benefited from Virginia's tireless work. These children, all participants in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, spoke of their hopes for great jobs and bright futures. These bright futures were made possible because these kids have the opportunity to escape failing, unsafe schools and use school vouchers to attend some of the District's finest private schools. 

Virginia is nothing short of a miracle worker, a single mom who conceptualized this program, fought for it, continued the fight even after a presidential veto in the 1990s, and never backed down from doing what was right even in the face of opposition, harassment, condescension, or disrespect. She's the type of person who will do anything to win a victory for kids—whether that means wearing her knees out by walking the marble floors of the Capitol with parents for days on end…or making rally signs with friends at her home…or debating on MSNBC, she's always on top of her game. 

Now, if you ask Virginia, she'll eschew this type of recognition and credit. She'd argue, and rightly so, that it was an army of parents—a truly grassroots army—who won the fight for D.C. school choice (and, by the way, won a three-year battle, this year, to see that program reauthorized). She's right, but we know that any effective army needs a strong leader. And Virginia Walden Ford is the portrait of strength. 

In a month or so, Virginia's headed back home now to Arkansas, but she's not retiring. She'll continue the fight for educational equality in the same place where her own journey began, as one of the first children to integrate Little Rock Central High School. And we know what that means: Arkansas' bureaucrats better watch out. 

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