Is School Choice A Black Choice? Roland Martin And Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin Explain

Source: Abesi Manyando / The Huffington Post

The rise of non traditional schooling including Charter schools and private schools among Black families struck a chord to our reading audience and has been a hot topic since then. On October 28th, at 7:00 a.m. ET, TV One, NewsOne Anchor,Roland S. Martin will air a special that focuses on school choice as it pertains to Black families. Both Martin and his wife, The Reverend Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin are passionate about education and ensuring that African-American children receive the necessary tools to succeed in life through a proper education. They launched School Choice Is The Black Choice which is a national initiative designed to rally Black parents to take control of their children’s future.

As an ambassador of the school choice movement, Martin says it’s imperative that Black parents fully embrace all aspects of education, and advocate for what works best for their children. He says that the school choice/ed reform movement desperately need Black voices leading it, especially when it comes to mobilizing and organizing African Americans to make their voices heard about the education of their children.

”If you are standing in the way of kids getting a quality education, even if you wear the liberal/progressive label, you are the enemy,” said Roland Martin. “I’m sick and tired of seeing Black kids travel through traditional schools with little or no road to success. I’m a product of traditional public and magnet schools. For me, I care about what works. Traditional public, charter, private, magnet, home school, online schools, vouchers, I really don’t care. If it works for the parent and the child, I’m down with it.”

Dr Martin talked to us in detail about School Choice. Martin stated that, “Parents and students of color are looking for options that allow their children to excel in an academic environment that levels the playing field upon graduation. How can we accept colleges and universities that cater to a certain group of students and not provide the necessary individual education and opportunity to children through their formative years of academia? It is our responsibility as parents of color to seek out the best available educational opportunity for our children from birth to college graduation.”

To read this article in its entirety visit The Huffington Post.