This afternoon, more than 1,000 students, parents, and concerned citizens gathered across from city hall to rally in support of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. A number of prominent D.C. leaders spoke, including former mayor Anthony Williams and former councilmember Kevin Chavous. But the most moving speeches were from the parents and students participating in the scholarship program. High-school student Carlos Battle spoke about how he was personally working to redefine the image of the black teen in Washington, D.C. — and how the Opportunity Scholarship program was giving him a chance to fulfill his dream. A father of a scholarship student pointed out the hypocrisy of Congress bailing out failing corporations but taking scholarships away from D.C. students.
There's a picture at the link. It's worth at least a thousand words.
9 comments:
I dont see any link here, is it just me?
No, I screwed up when doing the link. It's fixed now--thanks for the heads-up.
It is in the best interest of the Obama administration that the voters stay ignorant and naive. If they begin to read and analyze what is happening on a national scale, they may begin to realize how they have been misled and used as props for his socialist agenda. In a similar manner, did you hear that the Kerry bill to bail out newspapers is in the mix for later? Maybe that's why we were being so hyped up for the Swine Flu in hopes that we wouldn't care. I have a link on my blog if you are interested. Just more federal hooha, smoke and mirrors and pay no attention to the make behind the curtain foolishness.
Not only can I not understand how so many people are surprised by this, I myself am surprised that so few people seem concerned.
You won't see any of this during American Idol or Survivor. Many just don't know what going on because the Oprah and The View will avoid any of these topics that might make the current administration look bad. So, I'm not surprised that few people seem concerned. Its those who seek to educate ourselves that are.
As a way to offset some of the concerns about Obama's, and the Democrats, socialist agenda it should be noticed that the D.C. voucher scrap has pitted two important Democratic party constituencies against each other. This week, this month and probably this year that fight won't effect the political drama of Washington D.C. but any longer then that and all bets come off.
A big, noisy fight like this may finally awaken some Republican interest in the education issue by providing an opportunity to weaken the Democrat's grip on the black vote. It's already ignited a backlash within the Democratic party - Democrats for Education Reform - that hasn't reached it's full flower yet but doesn't look like it can be easily smoothed over or crushed.
The real kicker here is that the defenders of the status quo lost by the unappealable, short-sighted accounting of politics.
The program wasn't summarily shut down as the NEA clearly wanted. It yet lives which means the NEA lost for a whole year. Not the outcome I would've expected from a Democratic legislature and a Democratic president.
I did hear something this morning. Some are trying to cast the DC voucher fight as a Civil Right. I haven't heard how the Black community is reacting yet. Will they accept that argument, or will they denounce it like they have the attempt to class gay marriage as a civil right?
I live in the DC metro area and it is getting a bit more attention around here. The Washington Post somewhat surprisingly has been very critical of the Obama admin for nixing the program. Obama did bother to make it so current students can continue until they graduate, but the 200 recently accepted students received a letter stating that they will not receive the scholarships and no new ones will be issued. Shameful.
Darren,
The NYT is drawing attention to the results from the charter schools run by the Harlem Children’s Zone. Evidently their results have been everything parents have been dying for, and everything teacher's unions have been dying to suppress...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html?_r=2
-AI
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