School Choice — The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

Martin Luther King, Jr. — A Legacy of Freedom and Equality
Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It’s a day on which Americans celebrate the legacy of one of our nation’s greatest champions for making the American Dream accessible to all, regardless of race.  Dr. King’s dream that children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character” is a sentiment that rings as true today as it did on that late summer day in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

School Choice is a Civil Rights Issue
Nine years before Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned formal racial segregation in public schools with their ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.

Yet even today, for far too many American families, especially families of color, access to a quality education remains out of reach. Students who are assigned to public schools by zip code find themselves trapped in a multi-generational cycle of poverty. That’s why John Walton, the founder of the Children’s Scholarship Fund as well as a co-founder of ACE Scholarships, declared “educational choice is the last great civil rights issue of our time.”

ACE exists as a solution. Our mission is to provide children of low-income families with scholarships to private schools in grades K-12, and to advocate for expanded school choice.

ACE gives low-income students the freedom to pursue the American Dream and become contributing members of society.

ACE Scholarships — Carrying on the Legacy
ACE’s founders were driven by the conviction that all people are created equal and deserve an equal chance to pursue the American Dream.

As ACE founder, Alex Cranberg says, “ACE serves as a reproach that demographics are your destiny, that if you’re poor that it explains your likely output in life.”

For children from low-income communities, a high school diploma from a quality K-12 school equips them for success – whether that means earning a four- or two-year post-secondary degree, pursuing other certifications, joining the military, or immediately entering the workforce.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 39 years old when his life was cut short. Yet, through his tremendous moral courage, he advanced the character of our nation. In doing so, he left us a great legacy to follow. Dr. King lit the torch we proudly carry today.