On September 25, 1957, nine courageous black students risked their safety just to attend school in newly integrated Little Rock, Arkansas following the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.
Nearly 57 years later, an Arkansas judge approved a measure that will halt state payments within four years to Little Rock schools that aided desegregation efforts. In the meantime, administrators will use funding to upgrade facilities while one district remains under judicial oversight.
This is all to say that times have changed and true integration is in a far better place than it was in 1957, causing a judge to adapt a government function based on the times in which we live.
Unfortunately, Eric Holder’s Department of Justice does not grasp this principle, and is consequently suing the State of Louisiana’s opportunity scholarship program.
DOJ claims the popular scholarship program that creates real opportunities for low-income children is undermining desegregation, even though a state-commissioned study says otherwise. This is in addition to black leaders who have urged President Obama and Holder to end these antiquated policies that cause more, not less segregation and guarantee the continuation of failing systems.
Abandonment of efforts by DOJ to provide excessive oversight would represent a monumental victory for Louisiana families.
Education truly is the great equalizer and has become the civil rights issue of our time. It’s critical to defend opportunity scholarship programs as a means of giving kids chances at success they would not have had otherwise. The power of parents and students to access educational choices in modern day New Orleans is a testament to the progress made since 1950s Little Rock.