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1998:
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A conversation about the Washington Scholarship Fund...
with Bernice Gates on Jun 17, 1998
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- 7 min
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with Bernice Gates on Jun 17, 1998
Bernice Gates started what she calls her education “ram-page” back in 1997. Gates is a mother of five and grandmother of five, raising six children. Derek attended Calvary Christian Academy on a scholarship provided by her minister. But the others were in government schools, and Gates wanted them out. She learned about the Washington Scholarship Fund, which provides partial scholarships for low-income D.C. students to attend private schools. Gates applied and secured scholarships for three of her children. In 1998, Bernice Gates took her “rampage” to “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, an appearance that introduced hundreds of thousands of low-income parents to the potential benefits of school choice.
In 1997, financier Theodore Forstmann and Wal-Mart heir John Walton decided to contribute $1 million a year for three years to the scholarship fund, enabling it to provide 1,000 more scholarships, each worth 30 percent to 60 percent of tuition, up to a cap of $1,700. More than 7,600 D.C. families applied. Shocked, then heartened, by the demand, Forstmann and Walton decided to take the program national. They set up the Children’s Scholarship Fund, donating $50 million each and announcing their intention to raise more.
Source-Reason Online http://www.reason.com/news/show/27564.html
