Ed. Equality Project: hot air on a summer Sunday?
Friday, July 11, 2008Written by: Alan Gottlieb
Coming to a press conference near you: The Education Equality Project. Led by NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, a diminutive heavyweight, the EEP rolls into
That’s right. A press conference. On a Sunday afternoon. In the middle of summer. Oh well, I’ll be there to cover it in my Education News Colorado reporter hat. I guess this is what we get for hosting the convention this fall. After all, this is a project of Democrats for Education Reform. Whitney Tilson calls it “the teacher unions’ worst nightmare.”
The project sounds worthy:
“…a new organization focused on transforming
America ’s public schools and educational outcomes for high-needs students. The Project will challenge politicians, public officials, educators, union leaders, and others to view fixing public schools as the foremost civil rights issue of the early 21st Century. It will focusAmerica ’s attention on its highest needs students, who 54 years after Brown v. Board of Education, still receive far less educational opportunity and often struggle and fail in school.”
It’s studded with big names spanning the political spectrum – among them Geoffrey Canada, Corey Booker (rising star mayor of And it’s co-chaired by Joel Klein and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Talk about strange bedfellows! So is this another high-wattage political stunt, or will this group insist on cutting through the happy-talk B.S. that permeates Eduworld? Sounds like a question I’d better ask Sunday. Around here, certainly, there’s often a lot more spin than substance, and some of the local luminaries participating in Sunday’s press conference are spinners par excellence when it comes to our local schools. Count me skeptical until EEP proves me wrong. So head on over to the Denver School of Science and Technology (2000 Valentia St) Sunday at 2:30, and see whether there’s more hot air outside or in.
