My Why: The Stories Behind School Choice

Andy Ryan, Executive Director, shares why he supports school choice for all Alabama Families 

Most Americans don’t talk about the American Dream as much as we used to, but for my family, the American Dream and education are inseparable. 

My mother grew up in an immigrant household of migrant farmers. She and her eight siblings would all pack into a single station wagon and drive from farm to farm across the West, harvesting vegetables, until my grandfather became partially paralyzed in a work accident. They eventually settled in South Texas, where my mom found herself in a second-grade Catholic school classroom without a word of English in her vocabulary. My grandparents couldn’t afford tuition for her and her siblings, but they insisted she receive a great Catholic education because they wanted a better life for her and made many sacrifices to make that happen. She became the first in her family to graduate high school, then college, and eventually earn her Master’s degree. She spent the majority of her career in public schools working with at-risk students across North Texas, giving back in the same way she was given an opportunity.

My father likewise spent his career in the classroom (he’s retiring this May—congrats, Dad!), so you could say education is in my blood. Just as my grandparents made huge sacrifices to ensure my parents could attend great schools, my parents did the same for my brother and me. 

Seeing my parents work in the school systems, I knew from an early age that the system wasn’t perfect. I spent a lot of time at the school where my mom worked, and it looked very different than mine. Why was the school she worked at—the “bad” public school in the “bad” part of town—old and rickety compared to the newly built one down the road from us in the nicer part of town? She drives over there every day to work; don’t those kids want to drive over here for school? But I also knew that our schools were doing tremendous good. Why else would my grandparents have done everything in their power to secure a great American education for my mother? 

It’s educators like my parents that help make American education a steppingstone to a better life and are the inspiration for why I do what I do. I sometimes think about how my mom must have felt walking into her San Antonio classroom, unable to speak to her teachers or classmates. She couldn’t have known how profoundly it would change her life’s trajectory or the impact it would one day have on her son. Education is the way we keep the American Dream alive. We owe the next generation the same promise that my grandparents gave my parents, and that my parents gave me. I’m incredibly grateful to play a small part in making that dream accessible to every kid.