Roland Martin: ‘Is School Choice The Black Choice?’

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2017/08/IMG_4746-scaled.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:6:{s:5:"width";i:2560;s:6:"height";i:1763;s:4:"file";s:27:"2017/08/IMG_4746-scaled.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:14:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-336x231.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:231;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-771x531.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:531;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-768x529.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:529;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"IMG_4746-1536x1058.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1058;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"2048x2048";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"IMG_4746-2048x1411.jpg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:1411;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:18:"IMG_4746-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-451x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:451;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-385x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:385;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_4746-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}s:14:"original_image";s:12:"IMG_4746.jpg";}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM 90.3
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1666567137 
1503678757

Two years ago, Alabama passed a law authorizing charter schools to operate in the state but the concept has been slow to catch on. Alabama has only one charter school so far in Mobile and the state earlier this year approved a second to open in Birmingham. These schools are meant to offer access to better quality public education but many black families have been resistant to the idea. Washington based television host Roland Martin is trying to change that. He’s making the rounds this weekend from Birmingham to Selma and Montgomery speaking with African Americans.

Fear of the unknown

Many African Americans don’t support charter schools and school choice because they don’t know a lot of about them, Martin says. “This is the thing, we only know what we know. So when you go, ‘… You get to control your own charter schools. You  get to be in control of the curriculum and everything else,’ Some people go, ‘Oh what are you talking about?’ That’s the fear. “

Problems with the funding of public education in Alabama.

Martin says Alabama doesn’t have a way to fix public school funding to be able to try new things. “How long have we been waiting for that to happen?” he says. “What I am saying is black parents say, ‘I can’t wait.’”

Accountability for charter schools

State law that establishes charter school operations also establish the rules of accountability, Martin says. “The accountability is there because the law says you’ve got three years. You don’t get the numbers? You shut down.’ Tell me where is accountability for school as being grossly underperforming for 20 years?”

 

‘Why does my toddler … ?’ Your kiddo’s most confounding behavior, decoded

Why does my toddler say "no" to everything? Say everything is "mine"? Want to crash into everything? Child development experts unpack common toddler behaviors and offer advice on how parents can cope.

‘It Was Just an Accident’ is a blast of pure anti-authoritarian rage

Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been arrested repeatedly in his home country. His shockingly funny new revenge thriller was informed by the stories of people he met in prison.

Effort to pay at least some federal workers fails in Senate

The Senate failed to advance two partisan bills that would have paid some federal workers during the shutdown. Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked as the shutdown drags on.

How presidents have changed the White House — and how Trump’s ballroom is different

President Trump is demolishing the East Wing to make room for a ballroom. His administration says he's continuing a presidential legacy of White House renovations, but this is the biggest in decades.

The East Wing could fully be demolished soon, as preservationists urge caution

President Trump is plowing ahead with plans to build a grand ballroom where the East Wing of the White House currently stands. The plans have not gone through the committee tasked with overseeing such projects.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says ‘I’d rather die’ than use generative AI

Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.

More Front Page Coverage