Free Willie -- II

It's been a good year for Willie Breazell Sr., which in turn means it's been a good year for thousands of children struggling to break free from a failed public-education system.

Mr. Breazell, readers might remember, was sacked in 1999 as the head of the NAACP's Colorado Springs branch. His crime was to have written a column in favor of school choice. The NAACP, fanatically opposed to vouchers, wasted no time in moving against this apostate of liberal orthodoxy. "I was kind of lynched, so to speak," Mr. Breazell said of his experience.

But Mr. Breazell did not go quietly. Instead, he joined the Washington-based Black Alliance for Educational Options and became a voice for the many minority parents who want change but have instead met resistance from their own national leaders. Earlier this year, Mr. Breazell was on the winning side of legislation to create a statewide voucher program in Colorado, for which 3,200 children will be eligible next year.

But the personal vindication came last week when Mr. Breazell and three fellow pro-voucher candidates trounced union-supported competitors to win a majority of seats on the Colorado Springs School District 11 board, the largest district in the city. One of their first tasks will be to determine whether to approve three new charter schools. The board will also be in a position to decide if more private schools should be eligible to accept vouchers.

Mr. Breazell's election isn't just a triumph for school choice, but for all those willing to speak above groups like the NAACP that no longer represent the interests of their communities. Those voices have been growing to include such influential figures as Washington, D.C.'s mayor, Anthony Williams, and its school board president, Peggy Cooper Cafritz. If more children do finally get access to a public education worth the name, it'll be in no small part thanks to folks like Willie Breazell.

Updated November 11, 2003