Peter Edelman just had the best line so far: "I go home every night to a household where the term "leave no child behind" originated." (Referring, of course, to his wife Marian Wright Edelman and her work??leading the Children's Defense Fund.)
Edelman: Our society hasn't been living up to our ideals for the past forty years in terms of reaching??out to the neediest.
Edelman: There is NOTHING in this statement that lets schools off the hook. All of us agree about that. The details may differ. Our concepts of school reform may differ, but those are details. He believes in high standards, choice (not vouchers!). His son works with Arne Duncan (small world!) on charter and contract schools.
He would go broader than broader/bolder. 100 percent emphasis on schools but also 100 percent emphasis on ending poverty, and not just poverty, but go up to 200% of poverty line. A huge percentage (did he say 90 percent?) of our families have a hard time making ends meet.
Five percent of our people have incomes below HALF the poverty line...this is a national crisis and national dereliction. We need jobs that pay wages and wage supplements. Health care. Safety net. Invest in children across the board, not just in school. We need safe neighorhoods, mixed income housing, rebuild mental health system, etc.
We need the education community to join with other people. One child out of six in our country has been LEFT BEHIND and not been given things that we can all give to our children!
