Strong American Schools

The Gates and Broad Foundations are putting big money behind a new organization, Strong American Schools, which is being headed by Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado and Superintendent of the LA public schools:

On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, Strong American Schools will be launched as a nonpartisan public awareness and action campaign aimed at elevating education to the top of our nation’s domestic priorities.   We intend to use all of the tools of a modern presidential campaign to stimulate a rigorous and detailed discussion of education by the candidates for president in 2008.  Strong American Schools is being funded by substantial grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation.

I will serve as Chairman of this campaign.  As a lifelong public servant, including service as governor of Colorado for three terms and most recently superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, I’ve been immersed in education and politics for the last 50 years.  I strongly believe that all students deserve the best education possible, and that the future of our nation depends on whether we can work together to give it to them.

In particular, the initial goal is to make education THE defining domestic issue of the 2008 Presidential campaign, under the slogan "ED in 08".

 

I met Gov. Romer yesterday for the first time and was very impressed.  He gets the sick joke that's being foisted upon our nation's disadvantaged children.

 

The launch event for Strong American Schools is this coming Wed., April 25th in Columbia, SC.