President Barack Obama Terminates Washington D.C.'s "Opportunity Scholarship Program," Which Allowed Poor Black Kids to Attend Better Schools

It's not often that I agree with the views expressed by Fox News, but this time I have to say, I agree with Juan Williams' assessment and anger over President Obama's decision to terminate Washington D.C.'s "Opportunity Scholarship Program," which would have allowed poor black children to attend the same distinguished schools as his two daughters. He called his decision one based on having greater choice in education. He basically capitulated to the school unions and has killed any efforts to allow parents to shop for better schools for their tax dollars. President Obama is slowly going back on some of his key campaign promises.

Writing in his Fox News blog, Williams, who recently called for ending the private ownership of all guns, blasted Obama for doing the bidding of school unions and cutting off any efforts to allow parents to “shop” for better schools with their tax dollars.

“As I watch Washington politics I am not easily given to rage,” Williams writes.“But over the last week I find myself in a fury.”

“The cause of my upset is watching the key civil rights issue of this generation — improving big city public school education — get tossed overboard by political gamesmanship. If there is one goal that deserves to be held above day-to-day partisanship and pettiness of ordinary politics it is the effort to end the scandalous poor level of academic achievement and abysmally high drop-out rates for America’s black and Hispanic students,” said Williams.

Williams cites that not only did the program not drain tax money from D.C. public schools, but it improved the test scores of black and Hispanic children who otherwise likely would have failed. The program was so popular and demand for scholarships so high, recipients had to be determined by lottery.

But Obama then terminated the very “hope” he promised to bring, because school unions told him to. So much for ending “politics as usual.”

“This reckless dismantling of the D.C. voucher program does not bode well for arguments to come about standards in the effort to reauthorize No Child Left Behind. It does not speak well of the promise of President Obama to be the “Education President,’ who once seemed primed to stand up for all children who want to learn and especially minority children,” he continues. “And its time for all of us to get outraged about this sin against our children,” Williams concludes. Source: Fox News Forum

I agree with Juan Williams because education “the key civil rights issue of this generation.” I fully embrace choices in education and I support giving parents the ability to pick the best schools for their children by using their tax dollars or through scholarships. In case the President hasn't noticed, he went to the best schools and got a first-rate education, all the way to college, so why would he go back on a campaign promise that was so central to his candidacy? There must be greater choices for parents in the education marketplace.

As a parent, I want the best education I can get for my two children and I am sure, many parents in Washington D.C. want the same things for their children -- a better life through a solid eduction. The government-run schools in D. C. are living proof that the one-size-fits-all mentality harms our children. The crime and drop-out rates are higher than graduation rates in these public schools. You don't empower the kids by taking away a program to help them, while you throw billions of dollars at mismanaged companies such as General Motors and Chrysler, or even bail out banks that have little interest in loaning money to Main Street. Come on President Obama, shame on you!

President George W. Bush Claims Sweeping Civil Rights Gains During his Eight-Year Tenure in the White House

President George W. Bush is searching desperately for crumbs that could possibly create some legitimacy to his eight-year reign of incompetence and economic fallout. He declared that Barack Obama's election a "very hopeful moment for race relations," and now he has asserted that his own administration did much to empower minorities, calling the No Child Left Behind education law "a piece of civil rights legislation" and saying his call to overhaul Social Security was aimed at giving blacks a greater stake in the nation's future. Really, President Bush? Do you honestly think that "No Child Left Behind" was a runaway success? Wow, I wonder how many kids were actually helped by this "civil rights" legislation? I wonder how the victims of Hurricane Katrina factor into his civil rights success?

In a wide-ranging Oval Office interview with The Washington Times, the president also laid out the challenges facing Mr. Obama. "The international economic turmoil ... will affect a lot of his early presidency," Mr. Bush said. He also warned of a looming war with drug cartels where "the front line of the fight will be Mexico" and dismissed as "urban myth" a commonly held belief that he squelched dissenting opinion among his advisers. Source: The Washington Times

Wow and President Bush has such an enviable record of producing effective results. Here's more of the same BS coming from him:

Mr. Bush, who leaves office in exactly 30 days, said he had worked hard throughout his eight years in office to lift minorities, in part by increasing homeownership and expanding opportunities for small businesses. But he said that the Republican Party will have to find new ways to persuade blacks and Hispanics that it is working in their best interests, citing his landmark bipartisan education bill to hold failing schools accountable as a prime example.

"No Child Left Behind is a piece of civil rights legislation. And it's going to be important for future Republican leaders to remind people that accountability in the public schools is leading toward closing an achievement gap, and that it was a Republican president who worked with both Democrats and Republicans to get it passed," the president said in a 40-minute interview Friday.

Mr. Bush said Mr. Obama's election is a "moment of healing for the country," but added that race relations "is an evolving issue." Still, the election of the first black president clearly moved the president, who leaned forward in his chair by a fireplace in the Oval Office as he recounted what he saw on the day his successor was chosen.

"I was touched when I saw on television people with tears streaming down their face saying, 'I never dreamt I would see this day.' And there was a lot of emotion and a lot of pride in America as an African-American rises to the presidency. And to me this is a very hopeful moment for race relations," he said.

Although Mr. Bush started working on passage of the education bill even before he took office in 2001 - inviting top lawmakers to Austin, Texas, to seek consensus and eventually winning the strong support of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy - Democrats, including the liberal icon from Massachusetts, now deride the bill as fatally flawed and advocate either its repeal or a major overhaul.

The president made the legislation an early centerpiece of his first-term agenda, calling the proclivity of inner-city schools to advance students who cannot read or write at grade level the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Since passage of the law, the gaps in reading and math scores between white and minority 9-year-olds fell to an all-time low, and 44 states improved on standardized test scores.

Mr. Bush said his ownership society was "aimed at a lot of people," especially the black community. And while Democrats opposed the creation of personal savings accounts with investments in the stock market - investments that would have been prone to the very financial meltdown that has occurred on Wall Street - Mr. Bush said overhauling Social Security would have benefited minorities.

"The philosophy behind my personal savings accounts and Social Security was aimed at encouraging and allowing individuals to take some of the money that normally would have gone into a system that is going broke and realize the benefits of compounding rate of interest so that they can see their assets accumulate," he said. Source: Washington Times

Okay before I choke on these words, feel free to read the article in its entirety at The Washington Times. President Bush, I wouldn't brag about "No Child Left Behind" because it did leave thousands, in not millions of kids way behind. This interview was a load of crap. He said that he trusts history to judge his presidency. Well, history will portray him as one of the worst presidents in American history. He may be the reigning champion for many years to come.

President George W. Bush Claims Sweeping Civil Rights Gains During his Eight-Year Tenure in the White House

President George W. Bush is searching desperately for crumbs that could possibly create some legitimacy to his eight-year reign of incompetence and economic fallout. He declared that Barack Obama's election a "very hopeful moment for race relations," and now he has asserted that his own administration did much to empower minorities, calling the No Child Left Behind education law "a piece of civil rights legislation" and saying his call to overhaul Social Security was aimed at giving blacks a greater stake in the nation's future. Really, President Bush? Do you honestly think that "No Child Left Behind" was a runaway success? Wow, I wonder how many kids were actually helped by this "civil rights" legislation? I wonder how the victims of Hurricane Katrina factor into his civil rights success?

In a wide-ranging Oval Office interview with The Washington Times, the president also laid out the challenges facing Mr. Obama. "The international economic turmoil ... will affect a lot of his early presidency," Mr. Bush said. He also warned of a looming war with drug cartels where "the front line of the fight will be Mexico" and dismissed as "urban myth" a commonly held belief that he squelched dissenting opinion among his advisers. Source: The Washington Times

Wow and President Bush has such an enviable record of producing effective results. Here's more of the same BS coming from him:

Mr. Bush, who leaves office in exactly 30 days, said he had worked hard throughout his eight years in office to lift minorities, in part by increasing homeownership and expanding opportunities for small businesses. But he said that the Republican Party will have to find new ways to persuade blacks and Hispanics that it is working in their best interests, citing his landmark bipartisan education bill to hold failing schools accountable as a prime example.

"No Child Left Behind is a piece of civil rights legislation. And it's going to be important for future Republican leaders to remind people that accountability in the public schools is leading toward closing an achievement gap, and that it was a Republican president who worked with both Democrats and Republicans to get it passed," the president said in a 40-minute interview Friday.

Mr. Bush said Mr. Obama's election is a "moment of healing for the country," but added that race relations "is an evolving issue." Still, the election of the first black president clearly moved the president, who leaned forward in his chair by a fireplace in the Oval Office as he recounted what he saw on the day his successor was chosen.

"I was touched when I saw on television people with tears streaming down their face saying, 'I never dreamt I would see this day.' And there was a lot of emotion and a lot of pride in America as an African-American rises to the presidency. And to me this is a very hopeful moment for race relations," he said.

Although Mr. Bush started working on passage of the education bill even before he took office in 2001 - inviting top lawmakers to Austin, Texas, to seek consensus and eventually winning the strong support of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy - Democrats, including the liberal icon from Massachusetts, now deride the bill as fatally flawed and advocate either its repeal or a major overhaul.

The president made the legislation an early centerpiece of his first-term agenda, calling the proclivity of inner-city schools to advance students who cannot read or write at grade level the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Since passage of the law, the gaps in reading and math scores between white and minority 9-year-olds fell to an all-time low, and 44 states improved on standardized test scores.

Mr. Bush said his ownership society was "aimed at a lot of people," especially the black community. And while Democrats opposed the creation of personal savings accounts with investments in the stock market - investments that would have been prone to the very financial meltdown that has occurred on Wall Street - Mr. Bush said overhauling Social Security would have benefited minorities.

"The philosophy behind my personal savings accounts and Social Security was aimed at encouraging and allowing individuals to take some of the money that normally would have gone into a system that is going broke and realize the benefits of compounding rate of interest so that they can see their assets accumulate," he said. Source: Washington Times

Okay before I choke on these words, feel free to read the article in its entirety at The Washington Times. President Bush, I wouldn't brag about "No Child Left Behind" because it did leave thousands, in not millions of kids way behind. This interview was a load of crap. He said that he trusts history to judge his presidency. Well, history will portray him as one of the worst presidents in American history. He may be the reigning champion for many years to come.