Saturday, July 17, 2004

Clinton on race

Bill sits down with Cassandra Butts [there's a joke in there somewhere] to talk about race at the Center for American Progress.

Q: Education is seen as fundamental to the future opportunities of all Americans, but the failings of our education system are felt most acutely by children of color. What do you believe was the single most important policy put forward during your presidency to address this problem?

President Clinton: Oh, I think requiring uniform standards and providing more money to the schools to support them, along with after school programs and tutoring programs. This whole idea that we could have uniform achievement, but we had to give more help, and we gave very specific help. We had, by the end of my term, for the first time in American history, a high school graduation rate in the African-American community that was almost exactly the same as it was among whites.[my emphasis]


Read the whole interview.

And contrast Bill's programs with 'No Child Left Behind'. The major difference, Bill funded his programs.

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