John Shaw: “two businessmen, Ted Forstmann and John Walton, are, in my opinion, American heroes, and here is why. American public…”

“two businessmen, Ted Forstmann and John Walton, are, in my opinion, American heroes, and here is why. American public schools are in crisis. The crisis is starkly illustrated by the results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study which found that only Cyprus and South Africa have 12th graders who knew significantly less about math and science than United States students. The major cause of poor United States performance is that our public schools have a near monopoly on education and secondary education, stifling student's academic development. To counter this dilemma, Americans across this Nation are seeking much greater freedom of school choice. And here is where Forstmann and Walton come in. Last year, through the Washington Scholarship Fund, they awarded over 1,000 scholarships to poor children in Washington, D.C., but they had requests for 7,500. In response to this great demand, the amazing Forstmann/Walton team has pledged $100 million of their own money and plan to raise an additional $100 million to provide around 35,000 scholarships to help poor children attend schools of their choice all across this country. Mr. Forstmann and Mr. Walton are creating the future of American education. When at last our public schools have to compete for students, they will be remembered as two of our greatest, and most generous, education reformers.”