Linked with Howard L. Fuller – USA.
The ability to choose how your child is educated is a power all parents deserve. BAEO exists to help Black parents understand all of the educational options that exist … (full text Parental Choice Options).
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Address: 1710 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Suite 12, Washington, DC 20036;
Contact: phone (202) 429-2236, fax (202) 349-9879.
About BAEO: Organizational History: On March 4-6, 1999, the Institute for the Transformation of Learning (ITL) at Marquette University convened a meeting of 150 Black people in Milwaukee Wisconsin, to learn more about the benefits of educational options for Black families.
During the meeting it became obvious that in order to take full advantage of the various options that existed at the time or new ones that were being proposed in various states, a national organization of African Americans was needed. This belief led to the gathering of 50 dedicated and committed Black people at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, on 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. At a meeting immediately following the Second Annual Symposium, which was again hosted by ITL, about 90 of the 350 people who attended the Symposium attended a post-symposium session to continue organizing BAEO.
At this meeting, the first draft of the organization’s bylaws was reviewed and the participants elected Dr. Howard Fuller as President of the Board (the title was later changed to Chair of the Board). After the meeting, a 29-member board was formed and met for the first time on June 17, 2000. The organization was officially launched with a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on August 24, 2000. Since its formal launch, BAEO has grown to become the preeminent national organization for Black people who support educational options. BAEO has continued to grow and advance its mission. Since its launch in 2000, BAEO has:
- Located its national office in Washington, DC;
- Continued to inform, inspire, and empower parental choice advocates at the annual Symposium, which has become the largest gathering of parental choice advocates in the country;
- Created the Bailey and Sullivan Leadership Institute to develop the next generation of leaders and advocates for the parental choice movement;
- Developed effective public information strategies to support parental choice initiatives;
- Mobilized the support of Black people to enact, sustain and/or expand parental choice programs;
- Organized chapters and cadres of supporters in cities and states throughout the United States;
- Conducted outreach programs in Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Detroit to inform parents of their rights to Supplementary Educational Services under the No Child Left Behind Act;
- Recruited supporters and influencers who hold a variety of positions in government and private sector organizations; and
- Facilitated the development of three high schools as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Small High School Initiative with plans to open an additional five schools by 2010.
BAEO is staunch in its belief that parental choice must be an integral part of any serious effort to reform education in America. BAEO 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. These twin measures of opportunity and improvement provide broad social and economic benefits for the children and families involved and for the entire community as well.
BAERO is also named on Media Transparency.org.