Centre for New Black Leadership Urges Support for D.C. School Vouchers; Vouchers Serve to Enhance Chance for Educational Success

2/20/2003

From: Dorinda White of the Centre for New Black Leadership, 202-546-9505

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 -- Phyllis Berry Myers, president and CEO of the Centre for New Black Leadership (CNBL), issued the following statement regarding Congressional funding for a D.C. school voucher program:

"Since 1981, parents have pleaded for school choice in the District of Columbia. They stand in long lines seeking the power to have a say in the education of their children. They want control of their children's education in their hands; not in the hands of feuding politicians. They want options to a school system that fails to provide their children with a quality education.

One such option is a voucher program that would allow families in the District of Columbia to use public funds to attend private schools. President Bush has asked the Congress to institute such a pilot voucher program, allocating a small portion of an estimated $756 million set aside for school choice programs.

Surely, this is not too much to ask. The parents in the District have been waiting since 1981. It is now 2003. The demand for a quality education for the District's children has increased over the intervening years, not lessened. The parents and students should not have to wait any longer. The Congress and the District's education and political leaders must act now.

If not now, when? In another 22 years?"

The Centre for New Black Leadership (CNBL) is a Washington, D.C.-based research and education organization promoting a market-oriented, community-based vision of public leadership for black communities in America and abroad. For more information, please visit CNBL's web site at http://www.cnbl.org.