Its not everyday a child from a poverty stricken family has the option to attend private schools. Usually, these children will be forced to attend the public school in their district, whether it be failing or not. Although there are laws saying a child should be able transfer out of failing schools, there are no laws saying those children must be accepted anywhere. While not all schools in inner cities are failing, the ones in St. Louis city are. The Today and Tomorrow Foundation gives "hundreds of tuition assistance scholarships for city residents desiring a private school education for their kindergarten through 4th grade child(ren) (and are) available for the 2008-09 school year. The maximum scholarship award amount is $2,000."
The St. Louis Post Dispatch published an editorial on this:
ST. LOUIS — A Catholic education foundation is looking to give 600 city school students up to $2,000 each year to move into private and parochial education this fall.
The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation has gathered $12 million — six times last year's offering — to cover nine years of scholarships that aim to steer poor students away from the troubled St. Louis public district and into city private schools.
The foundation, part of the archdiocese, has raised money for parochial school scholarships for nearly two decades, Henry said.
But this is the first time a local agency has raised this much for scholarships to so many different private schools, he said.
The foundation piloted the program last year, said board member and campaign chair Kevin M. Short. It offered a similar scholarship to 75 kindergartners, but only for Catholic schools.
Just four donors — the Lay Family Foundation, the Sinquefield Family Foundation, Eugene and Evie Williams, and local technology company Emerson — gave all $12 million.
Some leaders say the program has already made a difference.
What an incredible opportunity for children in the city! This could very well be the thing that changes the rest of their lives. Currently, school choice is not an option, so Foundations such as these involved must act on their own to help these children. Maybe someday, every child will have this type of choice.
