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By Mará Rose Williams Calling education "the civil rights issue of our generation," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday issued a national challenge for whole communities to get involved in improving public education. "The only way to achieve equality in society is to achieve it in the classroom," Duncan told NAACP delegates meeting in Kansas City for the group's annual convention. "This is not just a moral obligation; it is our economic imperative," he said. "Everyone has a responsibility. Every one can step up. Education is our national mission. Education is our best hope." He said community leaders "must be at the table when decisions are made about how to improve struggling schools." The Obama administration is making $4 billion available to improve the 5 percent worst-performing schools in the country, Duncan said. "But what our resources cannot buy is courage," he said. Duncan asked the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to put education equity at the core of its national agenda. He called on the group's members to have the courage to uncover bad schools and weed them out; to challenge districts to lengthen the school day; to demand funding equity among schools; and to make schools "stop lying to children and parents" about being ready for college when the truth is, "We haven't prepared them." To spurts of applause from his audience, Duncan said the solution starts at home. He challenged parents to turn off the televisions and video games and make children read. He said knowing that minority children trail white children academically is not enough. Instead, he said, the country needs to stop making excuses and address the problem. |
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