Critics Say Education Dept. Is Favoring Political Right

[kskiska]

When Arizona schools superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan and a group of predominantly conservative educators launched the Education Leaders Council (ELC) in 1995, their proclaimed goal was to upset an educational establishment long dominated by the Democrats and left-leaning teachers unions.

Nearly a decade later, Keegan and her allies have become the establishment -- and the left is crying foul.

People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group, recently released a report depicting Keegan's group as the center of "a network of right-wing foundations" that have received more than $77 million in U.S. Department of Education funds to promote their "school privatization" agenda. The report noted that a co-founder of the council, former Pennsylvania education secretary Eugene W. Hickok, is now the second-ranking official at the federal department.

While there is a tradition of Republican and Democratic administrations rewarding allies, critics argue that the amount of money steered toward conservative educational groups by the Bush administration far exceeds the practices of the past.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48083-2004Jan1.html

[Wink]

1. I'm shocked and outraged.

Just kidding. More of the same from George W. Hitler.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Oh how shocking!

now the good news is that this is getting aired NOW

[JailForBush]

3. Why does the Left care?

I spent more than fifteen years in public education, and I never saw any evidence that the Left gave a damn. They griped a lot about the right-wing hordes, and they sometimes fought their most obvious assaults, like school choice, but they never did a damn thing to help the schools.

Reality Check: Public education has ALREADY BEEN PRIVATIZED. Just ask Bill Gates.

And have you noticed the verbal warfare between George W. Bush and the National Education Association? Just joking. I knew my corrupt union would get along just fine with Bush.

[impeach the gop]

4. Let's face it

We just sat on our butts and allowed this, all of this wingnut take over. We will be paying for this for generations to come

[0rganism]

5. Amazing... $77 million in GOVERNMENT FUNDS to promote privatization

This is the answer to the question posed ~50 years ago.

In the end, they have no shame.