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elleng

(130,156 posts)
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 08:44 PM Apr 2014

Education Gap Is an 'Urgent' Civil Rights Issue: George W. Bush

Source: nyt/reuters

Inequality in the U.S. education system favors white children over minorities, the poor and the disabled, making it "one of the most urgent civil rights issues of our time," former President George W. Bush said on Thursday.

Speaking to a crowd of students, activists, and national leaders in Austin, Texas, his home state, Bush said he fears a return to "the soft bigotry of low expectations" that strips disadvantaged students of a strong education.

Bush was among four American presidents who addressed the three-day meeting, joining President Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to mark a half century since former President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion or gender.

With Bush's former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in the audience, Bush focused his remarks on education as a cornerstone of Johnson's civil rights reforms.

He also defended his administration's attempts to close the achievement gap with the embattled 2002 law "No Child Left Behind," which required schools to bring minority children up to the same achievement levels as white students and used annual assessment tools to track progress. . .

"No law is perfect," Bush said. "The problem comes when people start to give up on the goal."

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/04/10/us/politics/10reuters-usa-bush-rights.html?hp

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Education Gap Is an 'Urgent' Civil Rights Issue: George W. Bush (Original Post) elleng Apr 2014 OP
I know W is a war criminal but he's also apparently pretty odd and unpredictable also uhnope Apr 2014 #1
Thanks. I'm with you, uhnope. elleng Apr 2014 #5
NCLB and Medicare Part D were triangulations right out of Clinton's playbook Recursion Apr 2014 #9
That was after he got the citizens of Arlington to buy a stadium for the baseball team, right? mpcamb Apr 2014 #33
nope - Bush is absolving himself from the root cause of our decline and blaming children/teachers pragmatic_dem Apr 2014 #18
His loser brother sells "educational software." Don't think altruism when familial self-interest MADem Apr 2014 #26
No man is better equiped to speak about education Botany Apr 2014 #2
What A Hypocrite He Is billhicks76 Apr 2014 #31
No Bush Left Behind. kwassa Apr 2014 #3
didn't Neil have some sort of educational software? UpInArms Apr 2014 #13
Check Out Marvin Bush billhicks76 Apr 2014 #32
"Soft bigotry of low expectations" sulphurdunn Apr 2014 #4
That phrase really gets under my skin. (nt) Nine Apr 2014 #25
It's bizarre to think that he would speak with such eloquence and wisdom when he showed nothing but DesertDiamond Apr 2014 #6
Well, that's just his stump speech on education from 10 years ago Recursion Apr 2014 #8
best theory is that it was early onset dementia. indivisibleman Apr 2014 #10
It's funny: I've shown that to several people who liked W's demeanor as "folksy" or whatever Recursion Apr 2014 #11
I think he enjoyed presenting 840high Apr 2014 #16
I seem to remember whenever "*" FreedRadical Apr 2014 #7
They could pass all the test and still know nothing about labor, which makes them great jtuck004 Apr 2014 #12
this is from the Onion, yes? because this cannot possibly be the same cretin who asked, "is niyad Apr 2014 #14
Fuck you, W. NCLB was a disaster and you're still a piece of shit. Fuck you! Fuck you! fuck you! Nanjing to Seoul Apr 2014 #15
it is hard greed that sends 1,000,000 jobs to India and China, not because they are smarter pragmatic_dem Apr 2014 #17
That's rich from an AWOL punk who lost two wars and crashed the economy Submariner Apr 2014 #19
Rhetoric is nice BootinUp Apr 2014 #20
Seeing as he's a Bush, he's probably upset rocktivity Apr 2014 #21
That's rich coming from W. davidpdx Apr 2014 #22
Says the guy whose biggest regret is that he didn't louis-t Apr 2014 #23
Bush is a phony. And a jerk. AlinPA Apr 2014 #24
He was articulate when talking about war.....every other topic came out like a word salad. Gin Apr 2014 #27
Bush's memoirs SummerSnow Apr 2014 #28
Dubya often makes me wonder what he'd have been like if his administration had had Arkana Apr 2014 #29
This speech should be a great comfort navarth Apr 2014 #30
 

uhnope

(6,419 posts)
1. I know W is a war criminal but he's also apparently pretty odd and unpredictable also
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 08:58 PM
Apr 2014

as evidenced by this new career as a painter. I think Oliver Stone got him pretty right in the film and there's every chance he believes what he says in this speech. Don't get me wrong, his presidency (residency, really, since he wasn't elected the first time) was a monstrous disaster for the USA. I'm just trying to encourage some nuanced response to this news item besides the usual onslaught. Anyway, cue the usual onslaught.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
9. NCLB and Medicare Part D were triangulations right out of Clinton's playbook
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:46 PM
Apr 2014

I bring that up to remind people that how we feel about those programs is a pretty good analog to how conservatives feel about, say, welfare reform.

As governor, he actually pushed for and nearly got a pretty hefty business tax passed in Texas (he ran in 1994 on cutting property taxes, raising a business tax, and increasing education funding). Whether that was always a bait and switch from the beginning or not is one of life's little mysteries.

mpcamb

(2,856 posts)
33. That was after he got the citizens of Arlington to buy a stadium for the baseball team, right?
Fri Apr 11, 2014, 09:04 PM
Apr 2014

Totally financed with public debt...

 

pragmatic_dem

(410 posts)
18. nope - Bush is absolving himself from the root cause of our decline and blaming children/teachers
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 11:17 PM
Apr 2014

and everyone but the corporate oligarchy sending millions of jobs and training to low wage/low skill markets in Asia.

We don't have an education gap, we have a wealth gap caused by the exact policies he is responsible for.

I'm sure he felt killing 100s of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Iraq was the right thing to do as well.

There is a time for nuanced benefit of doubt. This isn't it.


MADem

(135,425 posts)
26. His loser brother sells "educational software." Don't think altruism when familial self-interest
Fri Apr 11, 2014, 02:57 PM
Apr 2014

is more likely.

Botany

(70,292 posts)
2. No man is better equiped to speak about education
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:01 PM
Apr 2014

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." Feb. 21, 2001 Little Boots aka w

 

billhicks76

(5,082 posts)
31. What A Hypocrite He Is
Fri Apr 11, 2014, 06:35 PM
Apr 2014

He is just keeping on topic subtlety campaigning for his brother. This is from the guy who read My Pet Goat upside down. The entire family should be in jail for 911 as far as I'm concerned.

 

sulphurdunn

(6,891 posts)
4. "Soft bigotry of low expectations"
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:06 PM
Apr 2014

my ass. Try the hard bigotry of abject poverty. Bush always was a such a stupid shill and mindless parroter of right-wing slogans. I wish the knuckle walking little fuck would just go away and stay away.

DesertDiamond

(1,616 posts)
6. It's bizarre to think that he would speak with such eloquence and wisdom when he showed nothing but
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:19 PM
Apr 2014

the opposite while he was resident in the White House. I am happy to praise him. It's just pretty bizarre. I understand if he couldn't feel free to say what he really thought while serving as a corporate puppet. But was he also faking being inarticulate?

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
8. Well, that's just his stump speech on education from 10 years ago
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:40 PM
Apr 2014

That's exactly what he was saying when he and Ted Kennedy were pushing NCLB.

As far as the inarticulate thing, if you compare his 1994 gubernatorial debate performance to his time in office:



The difference is pretty hard to ignore. There were three main theories back then.

1. He was drinking again
2. The POTUS persona was what he thought of as gravitas
3. He had a head injury in 1998 (car accident IIRC) and the slurred speech was the result

Whether it was one of those or something else, it remains a mystery.

indivisibleman

(482 posts)
10. best theory is that it was early onset dementia.
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:46 PM
Apr 2014

He was also probably on some drugs to assist him in the debate and it made things worse.
His entrance into painting is part of his therapy for his dementia since artistic activities have been shown to improve brain function. He was very sharp at one time but seriously lost his edge over time.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
11. It's funny: I've shown that to several people who liked W's demeanor as "folksy" or whatever
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:53 PM
Apr 2014

Without exception they all got very concerned and wished they had seen that before they voted in 2000...

FreedRadical

(518 posts)
7. I seem to remember whenever "*"
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:37 PM
Apr 2014

was speaking positively about some social issue, it was preceding an attack on that vary issue.

Let me just say too. FUCK HIM

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
12. They could pass all the test and still know nothing about labor, which makes them great
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:55 PM
Apr 2014

little low-paid service workers who are easier to screw over than their parents. And their parents are absolute Patsy's

If the 99% just, for one second, realized it really has the power, at how few really control their lives, realized how they were trained to feel, on their own, only worth as much as they are told they are worth, we wouldn't be laughing at what an anomaly junior w bush painter boy is. We wouldn't even know his name.

Btw, Meridian, ID schools just banned the book "The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", here.


"But an adult named Lonnie Stiles complained that the Alexie novel contains language “we do not speak in our home.”

You mean like "I'm hungry", "abused", "get on the fucking floor and don't move", "fuck", and "masturbate"? I bet. Life's different in poverty, or maybe you just choose to ignore what is the same. That means kids who might have seen a connection here don't get squat, you ride off on your self-righteous horse after having made life worse for others, and a few more fall through the cracks that didn't need to.

Good life's work there.


"
In June, 2009, a parent group at Antioch High School in Chicago demanded its removal from a summer reading program calling it “racist”, and “vulgar” for its language, descriptions of masturbation, sexually-themed jokes, and subjects such as alcoholism and violence. An administrator for the school stated that the challenges faced by many of the characters are the same that incoming freshmen face.
...

Just last week, on June 19, 2011, the Tri-City Herald in Washington State reported that the Richland School Board voted 3-2 to prohibit its use in classrooms of any grade level. The book had been piloted in a ninth-grade English class last fall and the original question before the board was whether or not to use it at the freshman level, but the final vote took it away from all students. None of the board members had actually read the book, they conceded, but banned it anyway.

Also last week, Alexie exchanged comments on the Wall Street Journal’s website about the book being appropriate reading for young teenagers. The reviewer, Meghan Cox Gurdon, had included Absolutely True in a list of young adult books that “reflect back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is.”

“Not so”, countered Alexie. “I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that."
...

Here.

How can we train them in anything if we can't even keep hate and fear and ideas of "sin" from driving the curriculum of the school?

niyad

(112,440 posts)
14. this is from the Onion, yes? because this cannot possibly be the same cretin who asked, "is
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:56 PM
Apr 2014

our children learning?" or uttered the countless other insane statements we all remember.

 

Nanjing to Seoul

(2,088 posts)
15. Fuck you, W. NCLB was a disaster and you're still a piece of shit. Fuck you! Fuck you! fuck you!
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 10:02 PM
Apr 2014

Fuck you, your wife, your two kids, your brother, your cousins, your idiot nephew, your STD infected brother Neil, Marvin, your dipshit daddy and the silver douchebag mother you have.

F.U.C.K. Y.O.U

No snarky "tell us how you really feel" shit. Fuck this turd.

 

pragmatic_dem

(410 posts)
17. it is hard greed that sends 1,000,000 jobs to India and China, not because they are smarter
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 11:09 PM
Apr 2014

but because they maintain a low wage, unregulated labor market and we give corporations massive tax incentives to send jobs and training overseas.

India has 800,000,000 working for $2/day or less. Like in the US, the tech boom has only worsened income disparity as profits are distributed to a small group of beneficiaries.

Until we stop this traitorous practice under "free trade" things will continue to get worse for everyone.

Shame on anyone blaming low paid, overworked teachers in the US, micro managed so badly, they are treated like fast food workers.

Shame on anyone blaming children, who have to deal with the mess their parents are making of this world.

How are parents supposed to help their kids while working two jobs and wages decline year over year?

It is just like conservatives to blame the end product of their bad behavior on the most defenseless members of society.

If there is a lesson to be learned, it is to never trust a word out of his ignorant mouth.

Bush is someone who needs to shut the fuck up about education.





Submariner

(12,485 posts)
19. That's rich from an AWOL punk who lost two wars and crashed the economy
Thu Apr 10, 2014, 11:21 PM
Apr 2014

WTF is anybody doing putting a microphone in front of this assh*le. No one cares. Drink hard and become worm food soon Dubya.

Gin

(7,212 posts)
27. He was articulate when talking about war.....every other topic came out like a word salad.
Fri Apr 11, 2014, 02:59 PM
Apr 2014

STFU shrub and go away!

Arkana

(24,347 posts)
29. Dubya often makes me wonder what he'd have been like if his administration had had
Fri Apr 11, 2014, 04:35 PM
Apr 2014

actual decent human beings in it rather than Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice/Wolfowitz.

navarth

(5,927 posts)
30. This speech should be a great comfort
Fri Apr 11, 2014, 05:28 PM
Apr 2014

..to the MOUNTAIN OF DEAD PEOPLE this worthless FUCK created.

How nice of him.

No matter how you feel about Pres. Obama, there's one thing you can't take from him: HE AIN'T BU$H.

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