The joint effort between Barack Obama and terrorist William Ayers to “reform” Chicago schools was a flop. After spending $160 million, Chicago’s children were still being left behind
“My experience previous to elected office equips me for the job,” Obama said in a 2000 televised debate during a failed campaign to unseat incumbent Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush.  “I have chaired major philanthropic efforts on the city, like the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) that gave $50 million to prompt school-reform efforts throughout the city.”
Let’s look at how he did as an executive:
Obama ran the fiscal arm that distributed grants to schools and raised matching funds.
Ayers participated in a second entity known as the Chicago School Reform Collaborative, the operational arm that worked with grant recipients. They met and talked often.
Ayers was more interested in transforming Chicago’s schools into vehicles for socialist revolution than in reading scores. He sought to use Annenberg’s grant to fund his dream of radicalizing both teachers and students. Obama helped him toward that goal, gaining what he thought would be an important credential.
When all was said and done, the had $160 million, and operated in 210 schools throughout Chicago between 1996 and 2001. Here is what the report concluded on the bang up job done by these two idiots and their partners in crime:
- On page 14 of the executive summary we find that “the Challenge had little impact on student outcomes.” On page 15, the report says: “There were no statistically significant differences between Annenberg schools and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain” and that “any improvements were much like those occurring in demographically similar non-Annenberg schools.”
- In 1998-99, just 36% of the Annenberg school students in grades three through eight were reading at or above national norms compared with 35% in Chicago schools citywide. In math, the results were similar. Some 43% of Annenberg students were at or above national norms versus 42% for non-Annenberg students.
- High school graduation rates for both groups of students were the same at 40%. The Annenberg schools edged out Chicago schools in dropout rates ” 35% to 36%. As the report said, there were no signs of improvement that warranted the expenditure of $160 million.
- The CAC did not improve the schools, and in some ways made things worse. The executive summary also notes: “Classroom behavior, students’ sense of self-efficacy, and social competence were weaker in 2001 than before the Challenge.”
- The report stated: “In 2001, students in Annenberg schools were somewhat less inclined than in 1994 to respect each other, work well together and help each other learn.” Neither student attitudes nor student achievements were aided by Obama’s efforts.
It gets better:
When Obama collected the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers, he told the teachers that support for alternatives to the education monopoly amounted to “tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice” even though efforts like the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, unlike those of the CAC, have produced stunning improvements.
Not being left behind are Obama’s daughters, who attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. There the tuition ranges from $15,528 for kindergarten to $20,445 for high school. When asked about it during last year’s YouTube debate, Sen. Obama responded that it was “the best option” for his children.
They had a choice Obama would deny others.
October 15, 2008 - 05:37 PM on October 15th, 2008
Wow, you guys have about thirty posts attacking Obama and almost nothing praising McCain. The right really can’t come up with anything positive to say about this guy.
Trust me, the left can come up with all sorts of great things to say about McCain.
October 15, 2008 - 07:26 PM on October 15th, 2008
[...] The joint effort between Barack Obama and terrorist William Ayers to “reform” Chicago sc… [...]
October 15, 2008 - 07:39 PM on October 15th, 2008
That’s because Obama is such a rich target: He is untrustworthy, a liar, a Marxist, and may not even be eligible to be POTUS.
You were saying?
October 15, 2008 - 08:55 PM on October 15th, 2008
I was just saying that I’m surprised that you’re not even pretending to like your guy. I read “right turn’s” comments. I’m surprised that more of you aren’t going that route.
October 15, 2008 - 09:32 PM on October 15th, 2008
[...] Chicago’s children were still being left behind | Right Voices. [...]
October 15, 2008 - 10:55 PM on October 15th, 2008
Honestly AKD, McCain wasn’t the choice of the right or for that matter a lot of Republicans. He wasn’t ahead in the Delegate count until there were two open primaries in winner take all states. In those states, Dems and indies were allowed to vote in Republican primaries and many did. There’s also the matter of Huckabee splitting the conservative vote with Romney. If Huckabee had gotten out of the race early enough, and NOT started harping on the fact that Romney is a (gasp) Mormon, we might have a Republican nominee that we could actually be excited about. Palin is better qualified than either of the other three candidates as she’s the ONLY one that has been a chief executive in the “buck stops here” chair. McCain has more leadership experience than Obama and Biden combined with fewer ethical problems than either. While both McCain and Palin have/had sons serving in combat, Obama does not and Biden’s son is a JAG attorney for the Delaware National guard serving a tour in the green zone in Baghdad and probably won’t leave the green zone unless he goes souvenir shopping and then only with a substantial guard of secret service and US soldiers or Blackwater contractors. (Were I given the choice, I’d opt for the latter. They’ve never lost a protectee.)
October 16, 2008 - 04:24 AM on October 16th, 2008
AKD as FAO so more completely posted, many of us have said all along we support Mccain with our eyes wide open. We acknowledged he was far from perfect. I have not ever hear one Obama supporter say that about Obama. They are mesmerized, hypnotized with the presence of their Messiah. I never saw such a large group of people act so idiotic.