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 The Democratic Party seems determined to keep quality education just beyond the reach of African Americans. In the post-reconstruction era, a Democrat controlled Supreme Court ruled in the abysmal Plessy v. Ferguson case that separate but equal educational systems were constitutionally valid. Although it quickly became obvious that separate but equal was inherently unequal, decades of educational oppression separated Plessy v. Ferguson from the redemptive Brown v. Board of Education ruling. However, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling failed to convince Southern Democrats to open the doors of their public schools to African Americans. Instead, many Democratic Governors such as the fiery Orval Faubus of Arkansas closed their public schools rather than admit black students. 100 Democrats in Congress signed the Southern Manifesto opposing the court decision and desegregation. Not a single Republican signed that awful document. Republican President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the integration of schools in 1954.
At the time, public schools represented the first step towards full participation in the American Dream. African Americans anticipated the end of educational inequality and seemed poised to reap the fruit of educational opportunity. However, the past thirty years have witnessed a sad regression in the American public school system. Particularly in the inner city, lack of access to financial resources and quality teachers has created a new term in the educational lexicon, that of the failing school. When the economic disparities are combined with a breakdown in student safety and chronic overcrowding, it is no surprise that many inner city schools are graduating students who are barely literate, let alone equipped for higher education and the skilled labor force.
One of the most innovative solutions yet proposed to empower students now trapped in these failing schools, is the voucher system. This program would attach public funds directly to the student rather than to the school. The student would then be able to apply these public funds towards tuition at the school of his or her choice. This program would open up a world of opportunity to economically challenged families who otherwise could not afford to send their children to private schools. However, in a cruel repetition of history, the Democratic Party and its powerful allies, the teachers unions, vigorously oppose instituting voucher programs. Once again, the Democratic Party has barred the door to quality education.
The party line offered by Democrats who oppose these programs is that the voucher program violates the principle of church-state separation. This defense is a red herring.
 The real reason for Democratic opposition is that the program introduces competition into the educational marketplace and requires public schools to actually demonstrate results as a prerequisite for funding. The public school system and teachers unions fear losing money to private schools as African Americans take advantage of these opportunities to secure a better future for their children. Democrats also fear losing precious years of indoctrination should young black students choose to attend private schools.
A bit closer to home, even when the Chicago School System opened up a magnet school available to students from failing schools, it failed to advertise the program or make the necessary information available to the public. Once again the Democratic power structure prevented black students from receiving the top notch education they deserve.
The Republican Party stood for integration in the 1950s when public schools were the primary path to the American Dream. Today we wholeheartedly support the voucher system, which will enable every family to send their children to the school of their choice. This program will not only stimulate the creation of new private schools, but will encourage all schools to strive for excellence in education, including public schools, thereby raising the bar and delivering the best to our young people.
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