蜜桃影视

This column originally appeared at .

Many parents have challenges trying to get their kids to do what鈥檚 best for them so they can be as strong as possible.

I don鈥檛 with Nolen McAllister 鈥� not when it comes to him eating oatmeal, anyway.

This kid eats it at least twice daily. Sometimes, he鈥檒l eat it before he goes to bed or even as a snack.

That鈥檚 great. Now, if I can only get him to eat his vegetables with the same vigor.

As I tell him while putting broccoli on his plate: 鈥淪on, it鈥檚 great that you enjoy one thing that鈥檚 good for you, but relying too much on one thing and not having enough of others won鈥檛 allow you to be as strong as possible.鈥�

When it comes to feeding our children鈥檚 minds, we must take the same approach. Relying too much on one approach to education without leveraging all possible good options for schools will not allow our children to be as prepared as possible for the future. As a result, our communities won鈥檛 be as strong as possible.

That鈥檚 why we need school choice.

And let鈥檚 be clear: School choice, for our communities, is not anti-public schools. It鈥檚 pro-children, pro-education and pro-advancement.

And, to be further clear 鈥� based on where things are for black folks concerning 听, and within and the need for us to reverse these trends 鈥� leveraging the best available education options for our children is also pro-black.

We must consider 鈥� if not embrace 鈥� school choice. We don鈥檛 have the option to cast aside any viable education opportunities if we seek to secure economic, employment and civil rights equality in America.

Many Americans remember that the fight for African Americans was to find inclusion into tax-funded public schools. At the time, most of these schools were the better option between 鈥渨hite schools鈥� and 鈥淣egro schools鈥� that were intentionally devoid of proper resources by Jim Crow administrators. Local leaders used Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) to maintain inferior schools for years 鈥� basically doing what was legal without doing what was right.

Civil rights activists led a charge to correct this wrong, not only in elementary education in places such as and , but also in places of higher education, including and the . Yet the fight for equality in education was never just for inclusion into the best public schools. Just look into the challenges facing those during the civil rights era or, closer to Philadelphia, .

The civil rights fight has always been for access to quality education and opportunities 鈥� wherever they can be found. In this diverse world where endless opportunities are found throughout the nation鈥檚 and world鈥檚 economies, we have an obligation to pursue every feasible path toward inclusion.

Access to business leadership 鈥� jobs that African Americans are woefully in, both in and in 鈥� comes through the educational experiences and alumni networks of a wide range of schools: public, private, parochial, charter and cyber. To improve the employment conditions in our communities (where black unemployment remains 鈥�), we must achieve more academic success and have more of a presence in positions of decision-making. School choice helps that.

Access to capital 鈥� by way of to foster wealth within our communities as well as eliminating the stubborn deficit black families have concerning net worth 鈥� comes when our children make their collective mark in the best schools, colleges and businesses, whether they are historically black colleges and universities such as Howard鈥檚 or others such as Penn. School choice helps this pursuit.

The same could be said with , and , among other professions. School choice helps this.

The simple truth is: As we are beating back the while we compete against the , we cannot afford to exclusively count on an education system that treats more of our and where our children attend with and . We cannot afford to wait until decades-long problems of , mismatched and deficiencies in are fixed before our children can be prepared for the future.

Yes, we must improve public education. At the same time, we must make sure that our children access quality education now.

For us to have a future, we must have a choice. It鈥檚 the only way for our communities to be as strong as possible.

Lenny McAllister is director of Western Pennsylvania for the . He was a panelist for the May 29 鈥�Is School Choice the Black Choice?鈥� event presented by 蜜桃影视 and journalist Roland Martin in Philadelphia.

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