Gov. Jeb Bush offered the opening address at his foundation’s annual education conference last week. But the former school choice student who introduced him may have stolen the show.
Denisha Merriweather has been doing that a lot in recent months.
Since May, the former tax credit scholarship student and now college grad from Jacksonville, Fla., has been featured in a video for the American Federation for Children; been spotlighted in another video that ran on TV during breaks in Florida’s gubernatorial debates; penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal; and sat down for interviews with local press in Jacksonville. Each time, she moved a debate too often stuck on myths and abstraction on to concrete ground: Her life.
Don’t let school districts and teachers unions kill the scholarship program, she told attendees at the Bush conference. (The program is administered by nonprofits such as Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.) Don’t let them throw nearly 70,000 scholarship recipients out of schools that are working for them.
“You can’t see them but you can see me,” Merriweather said. “And so you can see what is possible when you give a kid a chance at a quality education.”
Here are her remarks in full.
Good morning. My name is Denisha Merriweather.
This year I graduated from the University of West Florida with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary social sciences.
I specialized in children and society, which led me to work in a Dominican Republic orphanage over the summer.
And there I learned how truly blessed we are to live in America.
Next year I will enter the University of South Florida’s joint master’s program in social work and public health.
After that I will let passion and opportunity be my guide.
Maybe instead of just being the first member of my family to have a college degree, I’ll be the first to have the title Doctor in front of her name.
You would hardly have guessed such an outcome from my childhood.
I was born into poverty in Jacksonville, Florida.
My life was disrupted by constant moves.
I was held back twice in school and felt out of place in classrooms with kids two years younger.
I was disruptive and often got into physical fights with the other kids.
I was failing in school because I hated school.
All too well, I could see my future.
I would drop out and spend the rest of my life trying to make ends meet.
But that didn’t happen because of something my godmother discovered called the Tax Credit Scholarship Program.
It provided tuition for me to attend the Esprit de Corps Center for Learning.
That changed everything.
The teachers there challenged me to make the honor roll and I embraced that challenge.
The school’s small size and faith-based environment made me feel welcome.
For the first time in my life, I woke up in the morning looking forward to school.
I graduated with honors, prepared for college because of dual course enrollment classes.
I believe it is our duty to give back to those who have given to us.
So when Step Up for Students asked me to get involved, I said, “Where can I sign up?” And so I work with Step up for Students to be an ambassador for the scholarship program.
Because, it disheartens me to see school districts and teachers’ unions attacking it with lawsuits.
They say they are protecting public education.
What I can tell you is they certainly are not protecting the thousands of children excelling in classrooms all over Florida.
Children that now have hope for a better future. As I have.
I can only imagine where I would be right now if I had been forced back into an environment where I was failing.
We do not need to let them succeed. Please do not let them throw 70,000 children out of their schools.
These are not kids from your neighborhoods but from mine.
I implore you to stand up for children who don’t have the power to stand up for themselves.
You can’t see them but you can see me.
And so you can see what is possible when you give a kid a chance at a quality education, helping them to unlock their true potential.
There are many people responsible for the blessings in my life.
One of them is the person who signed the tax scholarship program into law and has fought for it ever since. He was the first candidate for governor in any state with the courage to openly run on a platform of school choice. And because of his courage, it now is the largest private school choice program in the nation.
Without him, I would not be here today. I can only imagine where I might be instead.
This morning, I get the opportunity to personally thank him.
You made my scholarship possible. You gave me the chance to change my life. I am forever grateful. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, Governor Jeb Bush
