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June 04, 2007

Opinion: Gates-Broad Education Effort Falls Short

A $60-million joint effort by billionaire philanthropists Bill Gates and Eli Broad to get politicians talking about education in 2008 has had disappointingly meager effects, according to an opinion piece in The New York Times.

Strong American Schools, a bipartisan group, has brought attention to the school drop-out rates of American teenagers (1 million per year) and the low test scores of American students in science and math, writes Timothy Egan, an author and former reporter for The Seattle Times. Mr. Broad, he writes, has said he wanted to ignite a “Sputnik moment” to make people realize the grave problems public education faces.

However, aside from nominal promises, the few dozen candidates for the 2008 presidential election have ignored education, the column notes. Leading Republican John McCain even lacks a page about education on his campaign Web site.

The column also notes that the structure of Strong American Schools may be hurting its cause: Campaign laws bar it from endorsing a single candidate, a hindrance in a wide-open field.

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