It appears that Obama has tried to minimize his connection with Bill Ayers, not because there was anything wrong with their collaborative efforts to improve public education in Chicago, but because the McCain camp could (and has) so easily distorted it into a "palling around with terrorists" meme.
Walter Annenberg, Richard Nixon's Ambassador to the UK, funded the Chicago Annenburg Challenge in 1995. Obama was the Chairman. Other members of the Board included business, education, and civic leaders. The CAC partnered with the Chicago School Reform Collaborative, headed by Bill Ayers on a major, 5 year project of urban school reform which they hoped would bring about "an educational renaissance in the classroom.” In 1997 Bill Ayers was named Chicago's Citizen of the Year for his work in school reform.
A feature of the plan was to create Local School Councils to locate the center of control in local communities, with increased parental involvement, teacher improvement, and leadership training. This was controversial: it was promoted as democracy in action; opponents saw echoes of socialistic "reforms" which disguised authoritative control, and the legislature passed a law that returned full control of public schools to the mayor's office. This was more a political power ploy by the mayor than it was an ideological disagreement.
Nevertheless, The CAC put up $50 million dollars, which was matched 2:1 with other fund raising, for a total of $160 million. Some of the major donors were: Bank of America, Wallace-Readers Digest Fund, IBM, MacArthur Foundation. Not exactly a radical bunch.
In the end, the 5 year effort was not a major success. Children's academic performance did improve in the "Annenberg Schools," but not significantly more than in the school system in general.
Undoubtedly, Obama and Ayers worked more closely on this than he wants to imply. So what? It was an attempt to improve education, not to spread terrorism or socialism. It's sad when the simple truth cannot be told in order to avoid being fodder for smear campaigns.
Shame on John McCain and Sarah Pallin.
For more: http://globallabor.blogspot.com/2008/08/behind-annenberg-gate-inside-chicago.html
Ralph
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4 comments:
The 600 pound gorilla in the room on Ayers that nobody mentions is this: not once in all this furor, in 24/7 FoxNews hysteria, and now the robo calls -- not once has anyone even hinted that Ayers had any effect on Obama, that his "radicalism" from 40 years ago rubbed off on Obama.
It's just pure and simple guilt by association. Not, it's not even that. It's just unholy and simple dirty politics.
Where are the responsible journalists or news pundits who will make that simple observation and shut those fools up !!!
Of all the Obama's shady associates Bill Ayers probably matters the most, because he is the key to understanding the agenda of the camp Obama represents and the the means they are going to use to achieve their goals. Once Obama gives education to Ayers and his followers, the next generation of American kids will be conditioned to believe in the same ideas that drove Ayers to bomb the Pentagon. And then American parents will start hearing questions like this one.
Socialism in its ugliest shape is coming to us if Obama gets elected, but people who vote for him will realize this only when it's too late.
Dr. Slogan, you should rename yourself Dr. Silly.
Your paranoia makes absolutely no sense at all. Have you even stepped into a public school classroom?
I've been working in them for about 3 decades, and if you know anything about what is going on in our schools, and the way education is totally held hostage to the business-model of 'accountability',you'd know there is no way for any philosophy or theory to penetrate what has become a nearly continuous stream of standardized bubble tests, and 'training' children how to take them.
Obama has said repeatedly Ayers will have no role in his Administration. Given that there is no record of Obama ever appointing 'Socialists' to positions of authority in his campaigns, and he has never once in public life announced he was NOT appointing someone to a position and then gone ahead and appointed that person, you have absolutely no basis for making such a ridiculous claim.
If you were honestly concerned about terrorists, you'd be very frightened by the Palin connection with the staunchly anti-US Alaska Independence Party, whose founder was murdered while trying to buy plastic explosives.
Dr. Slogan, if you have any evidence that Bill Ayers is currently anything other than a good citizen and a respected professional educator, who was named Chicago's Citizen of the Year, please reveal it -- If not, then please stop spreading unsubstantiated rumors created out of your own head.
You're afraid of socialism, which you seem to confuse with totalitarianism. I'm afraid of your kind of thinking driving us back to the era of Joe McCarthy and his terrorizing guilt-by-association tactics.
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