Civil Rights Groups Call for New Federal Education Agenda

This from Politics K-12:

Seven leading civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the National Urban League, called on U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today to dismantle core pieces of his education agenda, arguing that his emphases on expanding charter schools, closing low-performing schools, and using competitive rather than formula funding are detrimental to low-income and minority children.

The groups, which [yesterday] released their own education policy framework and created the National Opportunity to Learn campaign, want Duncan to make big changes to his draft proposal for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Seattle parents, NAACP cry racism over school closures

This from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Local parents and a civil rights organization are calling for a federal investigation into school closures announced by the Seattle School Board earlier this year.

The parents and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People claim the school board's decisions had racist roots.

One month ago, the school board voted to close five schools and end or change eight programs to help close a $24-million funding gap in next year's budget. The school board said it chose to close underutilized schools and schools with academic problems.
The news crushed the hopes of many students and parents who had been struggling to keep alive their hope while campaigning to keep their schools open.

A month has passed since the decision was announced, but that anger hasn't diminished. And on Thursday, it hit the streets.

Some 50 people marched to the Federal Office Building in downtown Seattle, chanting ,"Our School Board is racist. Closures are racist." ...

...And the protesters" anger went beyond their march. Some 200 people have signed complaints alleging that the school board's decision is not just unfair but also illegal. Those complaints alleging discrimination are now in the hands of the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education as a part of the NAACP's request for a federal investigation.

McCain on Education at the NAACP Convention

McCain Touts Bush policy

...For years, business ownership by African Americans has been growing rapidly. This is all to the good, but that hopeful trend is threatened in a struggling economy -- with the cost of energy, health care, and just about everything else rising sharply.

As in other challenges African Americans have met and overcome, these problems require clarity of purpose. They require the solidarity of groups like the NAACP. And, at times, they also require a willingness to break from conventional thinking.

Nowhere are the limitations of conventional thinking any more apparent than in education policy. Education reform has long been a priority of the NAACP, and for good reason. For all the best efforts of teachers and administrators, the worst problems of our public school system are often found in black communities. Black and Latino students are among the most likely to drop out of high school. African Americans are also among the least likely to go on to college.

After decades of hearing the same big promises from the public education establishment, and seeing the same poor results, it is surely time to shake off old ways and to demand new reforms. That isn't just my opinion; it is the conviction of parents in poor neighborhoods across this nation who want better lives for their children. In Washington, D.C., the Opportunity Scholarship program serves more than 1,900 boys and girls from families with an average income of 23,000 dollars a year. And more than 7,000 more families have applied for that program. What they all have in common is the desire to get their kids into a better school.

Democrats in Congress, including my opponent, oppose the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. In remarks to the American Federation of Teachers last weekend, Senator Obama dismissed public support for private school vouchers for low-income Americans as, "tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice." All of that went over well with the teachers union, but where does it leave families and their children who are stuck in failing schools?

Over the years, Americans have heard a lot of "tired rhetoric" about education. We've heard it in the endless excuses of people who seem more concerned about their own position than about our children. We've heard it from politicians who accept the status quo rather than stand up for real change in our public schools. Parents ask only for schools that are safe, teachers who are competent, and diplomas that open doors of opportunity. When a public system fails, repeatedly, to meet these minimal objectives, parents ask only for a choice in the education of their children.

Some parents may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private school. Many will choose a charter school. No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity.

We should also offer more choices to those who wish to become teachers. Many thousands of highly qualified men and women have great knowledge, wisdom, and experience to offer public school students. But a monopoly on teacher certification prevents them from getting that chance. You can be a Nobel Laureate and not qualify to teach in most public schools today. They don't have all the proper credits in educational "theory" or "methodology" -- all they have is learning and the desire and ability to share it. If we're putting the interests of students first, then those qualifications should be enough.

If I am elected president, school choice for all who want it, an expansion of Opportunity Scholarships, and alternative certification for teachers will all be part of a serious agenda of education reform. I will target funding to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class, or who participate in an alternative teacher recruitment program such as Teach for America, the American Board for Teacher Excellence, and the New Teacher Project.

We will pay bonuses to teachers who take on the challenge of working in our most troubled schools -- because we need their fine minds and good hearts to help turn those schools around. We will award bonuses as well to our highest-achieving teachers. And no longer will we measure teacher achievement by conformity to process. We will measure it by the success of their students.

Moreover, the funds for these bonuses will not be controlled by faraway officials -- in Washington, in a state capital, or even in a district office. Under my reforms, we will entrust both the funds and the responsibilities where they belong in the office of the school principal. One reason that charter schools are so successful, and so sought-after by parents, is that principals have spending discretion. And I intend to give that same discretion to public school principals.

No longer will money be spent in service to rigid and often meaningless formulas. Relying on the good judgment and first-hand knowledge of school principals, education money will be spent in service to public school students.

We can also help more children and young adults to study outside of school by expanding support for virtual learning. So I propose to direct 500 million dollars in current federal funds to build new virtual schools, and to support the development of online courses for students.

Through competitive grants, we will allocate another 250 million dollars to support state programs expanding online education opportunities, including the creation of new public virtual charter schools. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of Advanced Placement math, science, and computer science courses, online tutoring, and foreign language courses.

Under my reforms, moreover, parents will exercise freedom of choice in obtaining extra help for children who are falling behind. As it is, federal aid to parents for tutoring for their children has to go through another bureaucracy. They can't purchase the tutoring directly, without having to deal with the same education establishment that failed their children in the first place. These needless restrictions will be removed, under my reforms. If a student needs extra help, parents will be able to sign them up to get it, with direct public support....

McCain receives polite but tepid welcome from pro-Obama crowd

This from CNN:

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain received a polite but tepid welcome Wednesday as he spoke before a hugely pro-Barack Obama and Democratic crowd at the NAACP convention.

Sen. John McCain is greeted by Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP.

McCain received the most cheers when opened his address with praise for his rival.
By the end of his speech, which focused on education reform, the crowd was on its feet, giving McCain a respectful standing ovation.

The audience cheered McCain's promise to reform the education system and expand opportunities for minorities. Gretchen Woods, an undecided voter, said she found McCain's speech "informative and very interesting."

"I had intended not to come, but now that I am here and actually heard it, I think I made the right choice to come and hear it," she said. "After hearing him today, I may listen to him again."

Venitta Barnett, an NAACP member and Obama supporter, said also was glad McCain spoke before the group. "I came, and I was open-minded, and I listened, and I was more surprised that I am open to what he was saying. He is not everything that I heard that he was about. He is more people-oriented, so I am open," she said...

Thanks to Brad at KSBA.