Leading Advocate on School Reform to Address 6th Annual Conference of National Education Choice Advocacy Organization
November 10, 2010 [Philadelphia, PA] — Calling education reform and school choice the new Civil Rights issue, one of the nation’s leading and most prominent voices in the school reform and school choice movements, Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams PA (Dem-8th), will address legislators from around the country at the 6th Annual Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) Conference in Jersey City, New Jersey on Friday, November 12th. Williams will detail the successful blueprint he developed in Pennsylvania that has made school choice an issue that has garnered broad based support throughout the state. A recent poll by the Commonwealth Foundation found that 50% of Pennsylvanians, including the newly elected Republican Governor, now support school vouchers. “Providing access to a quality education for every child is the most important issue facing our nation today, said Williams. “I am honored to address other elected officials as well as the members of BAEO. They are on the front lines everyday fighting to make school choice a reality for every child. As a BAEO member and state legislator, I fully support their mission.”
Senator Williams has been a school reform advocate for more than 20 years. His fierce advocacy for the charter school movement has resulted in Pennsylvania having one of the highest concentrations of charter schools in the nation. The senator believes that all children should have the opportunity to receive a quality education so he wrote and sponsored Senate Bill 1405, the Opportunity Scholarship Act. The bill as currently proposed would provide low-income students that attend low performing schools, opportunity scholarships to attend a private school. The bill has received broad based support. Pennsylvania Governor elect Republican Tom Corbett is a strong supporter of SB 1405 and recently the IBEW Local 98 and the Laborers’ District Council of the Metropolitan Area of Philadelphia and Vicinity announced their support. The PA State Senate Education Committee, of which Williams is a member, held hearings on SB-1405 in October however the legislative session ended without any further action on the bill. Williams will introduce an amended version of the bill in January. “Empowering parents to choose educational options that best suit the needs of their children, is critical to education reform said Williams. “There can be no compromise on that.”
BAEO is a national organization whose mission is to increase access to high-quality educational options for Black children by actively supporting parental choice policies and programs that empower low-income and working-class Black families.
Williams is a member of the PA State Senate Education Committee, the Digital Learning Council led by former Governor’s Jeb Bush and Bob Wise and is a Board Member of BAEO, Black Alliance for Educational Options.
For more information about the BAEO Conference or Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams, please visit https://www.senatoranthonyhwilliams.com.
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