NYC Letter: Drink The Kool-Aid: Experience

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'F' FOR BARACK'S SCHOOL FIX

October 20, 2008 (NYPost) - Chicago's former schools chief has flunked the education foundation headed by Barack Obama and founded by 1960s terrorist Bill Ayers - saying it failed to monitor projects and funded school "reform" groups that campaigned against boosting academic standards. Paul Vallas, the city's school superintendent when Obama chaired the Chicago Annenberg Foundation from 1995 to 1999:

There was a total lack of accountability. If you went back and asked, you'd be hard-pressed to find out how the money was spent.

Annenberg spent $49.5 million, mostly on grants to 211 public schools that partnered with community-based groups. But despite collecting millions, those schools performed no better than other public schools, a study found.

Keep in mind that, other than managing his election campaigns, the Annenberg Challenge represents the sum of Mr. Obama's executive experience. And there are those who scoff at Sarah Palin's experience.

[We cast our eyes across the aisle and scoff up ticket.]

INEFFECTUAL BUT EXPERIENCED
"I'm Barack Obama And I Approve This Kool-Aid"

While much debate has centered on Obama's relationship with Ayers, there's been virtually no discussion about how the Annenberg schools performed. Mr. Vallas:

Very little of the money found its way directly into the classroom.

Most frustrating, Vallas said, was that Annenberg under Obama and Ayers funded groups that fought his mission, under Mayor Richard Daley, to impose uniform standards and stricter accountability in low-performing schools. Mr. Vallas:

Many of the school-reform groups viewed greater accountability as an infringement of local control. Some opposed ending social promotion and grade retention.

A preview of the O-exprerience and the "spread around" of your tax dollars.

Drink the Kool-Aid. Experience over outcomes.