Ohio graduate says school choice program 'saved' his life as vouchers boost graduation rates

A new study revealed the drastic benefits Ohio's school choice voucher program provided for students, specifically helping minorities, low-income families, males and struggling learners thrive in the classroom. 

American Federation for Children spokesperson Walter T. Blanks Jr., a beneficiary of the program, was two grades behind in school when his mother decided to take action. He revealed how the scholarship she found saved his life and turned his academic trajectory around during "Fox & Friends."

"It was really hard growing up. I was in an educational environment that just simply did not work for me," Blanks Jr. told Ainsley Earhardt on Friday. 

"I was severely bullied, and the principal told my mom, 'If you just give us five years we'll have the middle school turned around and the high school turned around,' and my mom said, ‘In five years Walter will either be in jail or in a body bag,' and so she found out about the EdChoice Scholarship Program, and it changed my life."

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"It saved my life, and now I have the opportunity to continue that fight for other students."

The Urban Institute released a study this week indicating Ohio's Educational Choice Scholarship (EdChoice) Program boosted long-term academic outcomes for beneficiaries in terms of college enrollment and graduation rates. 

The college enrollment rate among Black scholarship recipients surged 18%. The study also found that beneficiaries were more likely to enroll in college and earn a bachelor's degree than public school counterparts. 

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The data also indicated that the college enrollment rate was 16% higher for scholarship recipients than for public school students and the college graduation rate was 8% higher. 

Banks Jr., who previously attended a school that was deemed failing by state standards, received a scholarship to a private Christian school, and that was ultimately the catalyst that allowed him to turn his life around. 

"It wasn't just the academics. It was a school that taught me to be a man of character, a man of great integrity," he said. "Not only was I getting the academic portion, but also the moral side of things. And so my parents trusted that when I went to this school that I would be raised in the right way, become a man integrity, which I have."

"It was a massive blessing, not just for my family, but for countless families out there in the state of Ohio," he continued. "This report is very, very clear. School choice is working."

Banks Jr. went on to continue his academic career by receiving a bachelor's degree in journalism and media production from Mount Vernon Nazarene University. 

He reiterated the need for school choice across the nation to give other kids the same opportunity he had to thrive in the classroom.

"At the federal level, President Trump is a massive supporter of school choice across the country, which is why he supports the Educational Choice for Children Act, because every single family should have the option to be in the best educational environment that works for them and their family," Blanks Jr. said. "Children can no longer wait."