Dr. King and Florida's school choice rally

In Florida today, nearly 4,000 school choice supporters turned out in Tallahassee on Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Day to voice not only their support for giving parents choice, but also in the spirit of civil right that school choice be a bipartisan priority.

My first thought was about Dr. King. Few men in our country have so affected the heart of the country, and with actions that always reinforced the words that he said. He didn’t let the eloquence of his words, which would have stood on their own, go unaccompanied and unsupported, which inspired a nation to stand behind their beliefs as well.

My second thought was of education as the next front in the ongoing battle for civil rights, or the rights to full legal, social and economic equality. Leaving aside the legal part, education is a social right, which affects every student’s economic future. I have seen a lot of rhetoric from voices who I’m sure would also say they care deeply about public education that say school choice will destroy public education, but take this quote from the historic Brown v. Board decision:

To separate black children from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way never to be undone . . . We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

Now take race and substitute economic status. Or neighborhoods. I am certain that if Justice Earl Warren could see the current state of the nation’s public schools, this would not be what he envisioned desegregation would create. It is a mere permutation of that philosophy to know that keeping children locked into failing schools is a form of economic segregation.

Now if this isn’t a bipartisan issue by now, the something is seriously wrong and Dr. King’s words have gone unheeded by those who see the civil rights movement as an historical period instead of an ongoing goal.