Jay-Z’s School Choice Initiative Draws Left-Wing Fury
11th June 2024
Rap artist Jay-Z drew outrage from left-wing critics over the weekend when his talent agency unveiled an initiative to promote a school-choice program that would give Philadelphia’s low-income students access to the city’s prestigious private schools.
Roc Nation, the talent agency Jay-Z founded, will host events to educate residents about proposed legislation in the Pennsylvania Senate that would distribute from public funds up to $300 million in scholarships to low-income students. The legislation is similar to school-choice voucher programs across the country that give students the opportunity to pursue education at private schools rather than low-performing public schools.
“We want to empower the youth and families with the knowledge to pursue their scholastic dreams, make their voices heard, and become the leaders of tomorrow,” Roc Nation’s managing director of philanthropy Dania Diaz said of the initiative. Left-wing opponents of school-choice policies, however, described Jay-Z’s education initiative as a betrayal and a sinister collaboration with right-wing forces.
“This is no different than the right-wing efforts in Arizona, Florida and elsewhere just because they put a Black face on it,” wrote Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the New York Times’s controversial 1619 Project series.
“All within the stete, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” — Benito Mussolini