Sen Cruz: Celebrating Brown v. Board of Education -- We Must Finally Make Good on the Promise of Educational Choice
We need school choice and we need it now
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today released the following statement commemorating the Brown v. Board of Education decision 60 years ago.
"On May 17th, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that all children, regardless of race, deserve an equal opportunity to learn—an obligation that remains to be fulfilled 60 years later.
"Brown was a landmark victory for justice, a unanimous repudiation of the oppressive doctrine of 'separate but equal.' In Brown, the Supreme Court vindicated the promise of equal protection guaranteed in our Constitution.
"Yet today, there are millions of children trapped in failing schools, and a grossly disproportionate number of them are minorities from poor families. Countless children are systematically kept out of schools with safer environments, higher test scores, and better graduation rates. This was unacceptable 60 years ago, and it is tragic that any child would find himself or herself in such a sorry situation today.
"As parents, as teachers, as lawmakers, we should come together and vigorously maximize opportunities to give children a world-class education. School choice is the civil rights issue of our era.
"Looking back on Brown v. Board of Education, we see the struggles that African Americans faced across the nation. History is filled with descriptions of the deplorable and unfair conditions African American children were forced to contend with in order to learn.
"Those days should be left in the past, yet access to a good education remains a struggle—the Obama Administration has repeatedly sought to eliminate funding for the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program that provides money for low-income children to attend high-performing private schools. And it is litigating to prevent low-income minority children from accessing better schools in Louisiana. Like the new mayor of New York, our current administration consistently puts the interests of adult union bosses over the future of kids struggling to achieve the American dream.
"Sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education the children of Anacostia are still waiting to be assured they’ll get a quality education.
"As Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the landmark ruling of Brown v. Board of Education 'it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.'
"School choice gives low-income children the same choices and opportunities that children from wealthy families have always had. And school choice improves the public schools, making them stronger and more effective.
"The data show us that how much a child learns has a direct relation to how much they will earn in life. School choice gives every child a fair shot at success.
"We must finally make good on the promise of Brown v. Board of Education. We need school choice, and we need it now. Nothing less than the future of our children is at stake."
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