Voices of School Choice

In carrying out its mission BAEO supports:

•   Charter schools

•   Home schooling

•   Effective innovations in traditional public schools

•   Privately financed scholarships

•   Public-private partnerships

•   Supplementary education programs

•   Means tested tax supported scholarships (vouchers)

•   Means tested tax credits

•   Virtual schools

The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization whose mission is to actively support parental choice to empower families and increase quality educational options for Black children. The origins of the organization was in the hearts and minds of the 150 participants attending the first Symposium on Educational Options for African Americans held in Milwaukee, WI hosted by the Institute for the Transformation of Learning (ITL) at Marquette University March 4-6, 1999. The enthusiasm shown at the meeting generated the idea of moving beyond a loose network of people exploring and advocating for parental choice to a national organization. This belief led to the gathering of a group of 50 dedicated and committed Black people at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. December 3 5, 1999 for the first organizing meeting of BAEO. The founders adopted the name of the organization, the mission statement and the general principles of the organization.

Incorporated in the District of Columbia in 2000, The Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options has educated and trained DC parents to be more actively involved in the education of their children. The overarching goal is to assist parents in their quest to improve the academic achievement of their children, particularly low-income and minority students in Title I schools in need of improvement. DC BAEO has:

Provided leadership and technical assistance to organizations in order to assist them with the implementation of successful and effective parental involvement policies, programs, and activities that lead to student improvement.
Developed and strengthen partnerships among parents, teachers, principals, administrators, and other school personnel in meeting the educational needs of children and furthering their developmental progress, through forums and training on effective communication strategies, as well as supporting parental involvement activities at the school-based level.
Coordinated activities with parental involvement initiatives such as Even Start, Head Start and outreach on the No Child left Behind Act.
Provide a comprehensive approach to improving student learning, through coordination and integration of local services and programs.

DC BAEO provides parents with the tools necessary to alter the course of children in failing schools. DC BAEO realizes that many parents are functioning in an educational maze without a map. Providing parents with strategies to work with their children at home and teachers at school is the way in which we will see results in student outcomes.

DCBAEO is one of 14 chapters of the Black Alliance of Educational Options, Inc.
DCBAEO is located in a very diverse area of Washington, DC with easy access for parents to local transportation.
DCBAEO has a presence in the eight (8) wards of the District of Columbia.

DCBAEO believes that parental choice must be an integral part of any serious effort to reform education in America. DCBAEO firmly believes parental choice programs, which lead to the creation of quality educational options, not only rescue the children who can take advantage of such opportunities but also create powerful incentives for all schools, public
and private, to improve.