Cosby joins Boehner in drive for more school choice

The Washington Times ^ | Wednesday, January 19, 2011 | Deborah Simmons

[iowamark]

Count Bill Cosby as a big fan of school choice.

With Congress and the White House gearing up for a major battle over the future of education policy, the comedian who famously criticized academic failings in the black community added his voice Wednesday to that of House Speaker John A. Boehner and others who want to give parents a bigger say in their children's education.

The debate over reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was renamed the No Child Left Behind Act by the Bush administration, is expected to be resurrected during the 112th Congress. Congressional leaders and Obama administration officials are searching for common ground on charter schools and partnering with institutions of higher learning to improve student achievement.

Mr. Cosby zeroed in on that particular issue Wednesday.

Saying there needs to be a "revolution" to turn around the status quo for poor and black children, he urged colleges and universities, such as the highly competitive Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to "work with teachers and bring kids onto campus."

"MIT is only a 2½-block walk to a lower economic neighborhood," Mr. Cosby said. "Kids need to see more of this school and say, 'Yes, I can be part of this.'" His comments came during a conference call to promote National School Choice Week, which begins on Sunday.

While many school-choice proponents are using some variation of the "I'm in" or "Are you in?" to show their support, Mr. Cosby did not. Instead, he encouraged three former at-risk Baltimore youths to explain to the media how school-choice experiences changed their lives...

Mr. Cosby drew considerable criticism from blacks for his 2004 remarks marking the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision on school desegregation...

[goldstategop]

Bill Cosby is a liberal but he’s concerned about kids. He wants them to have a good education... something that keeps getting blocked by the teachers’ unions and their Democratic allies. The status quo is not good for our country’s children.

[Think free or die]

"Mr. Cosby zeroed in on that particular issue Wednesday. Saying there needs to be a "revolution" to turn around the status quo for poor and black children"

Don't stop there Bill . . . the schools are failing many of our children across the socioeconomic spectrum.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The debate over reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was renamed the No Child Left Behind Act by the Bush administration, is expected to be resurrected during the 112th Congress. Congressional leaders and Obama administration officials are searching for common ground on charter schools and partnering with institutions of higher learning to improve student achievement. ”

I know why GWB sold us out and gave up private school vouchers in NCLB: to get Ted Kennedy to help him get the NCLB bill through the Senate in any form so he could use it's passage for 2004 re-election. But House Republicans should now have NO incentive so sell us out and re-authorize the bill as it was. If they pass a bill at all it better have the private school vouchers in it, Obama/Pelosi killed the DC pilot program in early 2009 even though Obama's kids go to private school there (on out $$$).

[dusttoyou]

Never NEVER forget Cosby is foremost a nobama supporter.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

It’s a culture thing. You wouldn’t understand.

Rich, Black, Flunking (Education Study from 2003)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/916557/posts

[ZULU]

If you see a lever you use it.

This is a lever, no matter how small, into the black voter block monopolized by the Dems for too long.

Maybe more aware blacks like Cosby might, just might, begin to rethink their attitude towards the party of political slavery with the right encouragement and inducements.

[Impy]

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