Black children -- and grown-ups -- empowered by school choice

Florida Democrats "support all forms of school choice, including vouchers and tax credit scholarships," explains the Florida coordinator of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). Why? "The answer is black middle-class jobs and the rise of black-owned schools."

Every Florida black elected legislator opposed the early school choice programs, but the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for low-income students and the McKay Scholarship for exceptional students have caused a change in attitude. These programs have enabled black churches and community groups to create financially viable schools, and as these schools have grown so has black political support for school choice. Black ministers are employing black teachers and administrators to work in their growing schools and are seeing the lives of black children turned around. These ministers, in turn, are pressuring black elected officials to support these scholarship programs, and they are responding.