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by Mark Silva
Here's an unlikely trio for a road tour:
Education Secretary Arne Duncan plans to take the Obama administration's vision of educational improvements, innovation and the "challenges facing America's school systems'' on a multi-city tour. And he plans to take former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and onetime Democratic presidential candidate and civil rights leader Al Sharpton with him.
Duncan, who met with Gingrich and Sharpton earlier this year, calls them "two of the most candid people I have ever known.
"They are willing to challenge conventional thinking,'' the education secretary and former superintendent of schools in Chicago says, "and I can absolutely promise some provocative conversations on education reform."
The tour starts Sept. 29 in Philadelphia, heads to New Orleans on Nov. 3 and then Baltimore on Nov. 13 -- cities selected for what they can teach others about school reform. The Department of Education plans to add other stops, including a rural venue.
"These are cities that have real challenges but also tremendous hope and opportunity," Duncan told reporters in a conference call.
Sharpton, in a statement issued through the department, said: '"Fifty-five years after the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, we still find that education is unequal in our nation..... We must use new methods to close the achievement gap so we do not continue to fail our children.''
Gingrich, in a statement issued, said: "President Obama has shown real courage on the issue of charter schools. I strongly believe that when you can find common ground, we should be able to put other differences aside to achieve a common goal.''
The two, interviewed on NBC News' Today show this morning, spoke of working together in this venture.
"Education has to be the No. 1 civil right of the 21st century, and I've been passionate about reforming education," Gingrich said. "And we can't get it done as a partisan issue."
The time has come to "change the conversation,'' Sharpton said, "to say we need to put everybody's hands on the table."
Comments
Neut Getrich will sleep with anyone, as long as the money is right. What a bum !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | August 14, 2009 11:16 AM
Boy, Sharpton/Gingrich, that's a heck of a "and death is not an option" choice.
Posted by: Lou | August 14, 2009 12:58 PM
This "road show" should and ought to produce some interesting ideas, but how long will it be before Al and Newt start swinging at each other and ignoring the thoughts of the other.
Posted by: A Once and Future Skeptic | August 14, 2009 3:43 PM
Speaker Gingrich is a lot smarter than current Speaker Dimwit. If Newt runs, I owuld love to see Newt debate BO - w/o his teleprompter
Posted by: Terry | August 14, 2009 7:50 PM
You mean Sneaker Getrich. You know, the guy who serves his wife with divorce papers, as she is fighting cancer, in hospital. What a guy !!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | August 15, 2009 3:26 PM
No FITZ, I mean Speaker Gingirich. BTW, how is BO doing bringing the troops home?
Posted by: Terry | August 15, 2009 8:13 PM
A whole lot better than Teedle-dee-dee and Tweedle-dee-dum, aka Bush&Cheney, did during their rain of error !! At least, our women and men in uniform are receiving better healthcare, than they did during the The Dynamic Duo's reign !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | August 16, 2009 11:10 AM
A whole lot better than Teedle-dee-dee and Tweedle-dee-dum, aka Bush&Cheney, did during their rain of error !! At least, our women and men in uniform are receiving better healthcare, than they did during the The Dynamic Duo's reign !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | August 16, 2009 11:32 AM
FITZ,
The only reason he can w/d troops from Iraq is becuase of the position he was left on January 20, 2009. We'll see if BO holds true to his pledge of having troops out of Iraq by May 20, 2010 - 16 months after he entered office.
Posted by: Terry | August 16, 2009 5:21 PM
Ah, yes - the "Reverend" Al Sharpton -
the paragon of virtue and morality,
arbiter of what's righteous
pillar of the community,
racial and religious healer,
intellect,
opportunist,
violence inciter,
self-righteous,
sanctimonious,
self-serving,
acquisitive,
and so many other descriptive words that simply aren't coming to mind.
I'm so touched...touched that he's been chosen. Excuse me - I feel some nausea coming on.
Posted by: LEANN | September 29, 2009 5:17 PM