A Friendly Disagreement with the NAACP

I had an interesting exchange with the vice president of the South Carolina NAACP this week, on the editorial pages of the Charleston Post & Courier.

In my Monday Op/Ed, I pointed out how the NAACP's preferred approach for narrowing the black/white achievement gap (increased public school spending) is demonstrably ineffective, whereas increased parental choice is demonstrably effective.

The Rev. Joseph Darby, the SC NAACP's vice president, took to the paper's Op/Ed pages just two days later (a nearly blog-like reaction time) to disagree. His main point was that SC's history of racism and educational segregation makes choice a bad fit for the state.

I'm not at all convinced of that, and indeed I think continuing to rely on the public schools to improve integration and racial achievement is to keep doing what hasn't worked in the past, while vainly hoping for different results.

I hope to have a chance to meet with the Rev. later this year, if he's willing.