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mmm 3A NEWS/(C6e Clwilotte $iMit Thursday, January 15, 2004 Bush at lieight of hypocrisiT with policies By Hazel Trice Edney NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON - If the past is any indication, President Bush will pay trib ute to Martin Luther King ■Jr. on Monday, the day his birthday is officially observed as a federal hoh- day. According to a leading advocate for children. Bush’s "words will amount to noth ing but empty rhetoric. “It is the height of political hypocrisy,” says Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. “It is using words while carrying out deeds that killed Dr. King’s dreanj, that killed the hopes of children for a decent edu cation. You can’t, on the one hand, say lovely things and then propose budget policy to destroy and undermine programs like Head Start and Medicaid and the basic protections that children need.” Bush says his No Child Left Behind Act is his major domestic achievement. Yet, on his recommendation; the- $29 billion authorization for the educational program was under funded by $7.1 billion in the 2003 fiscal year; for fiscal 2004, the $32 billion authorization was under funded by $7.3 billion. “We are now in our fourth year of a systematic attempt to starve the federal govern ment of resources that are required to pro-vide the social and economic hope and opportunity to our poor chil dren - white, black, and bro'wn - and to our working families,” Edehnan charges. “There’s a different ideologi cal ■view of what the role of the federal government should be. For all the incre mental, but significant changes that’s occurred, this Bush administration and the Congress and the poHti- cal climate of the country are trying to turn it aU back.” Edelman says Bush and the Republican-dominated Congress are trying to diminish the federal role in providing for the poor. “They’re tiying to eradicate Activists want achievement boost Continued from page 1A “I don’t see how any person can celebrate the results of the NEAP test,” he wrote. “I don’t understand how any person who believes in the education of all children can celebrate these results. The only thing that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system has demon strated for the past 50 years is its failure to fulfill its legal, moral and ethical obligation to provide a sound basic edu cation to all students.” Sixty-four percent of CMS fourth-graders read at grade level, according to NEAP findings, while 71 percent of eighth-graders were at grade level. The gap between the performance of black and white students is larger than North Carolina as a whole but similar to the U.S. “Our schools continue to gain momentum in student achievement as a result of focused strategies that work,” CMS Superintendent James Pughsley said of the results last month. “The investment this community has made, coupled with the hard work demonstrated by our district, is truly paying off.” But disparities remain. Fifty-two percent of white fourth-graders in CMS were proficient in reading, com pared to 14 percent of blacks. Among eighth-graders, 49 percent of whites were profi cient, compared to 14 per cent of blacks. “If I’m not mistaken, in 1954 (when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregated schools), math and reading scores for black students in the Charlotte- Mecklenburg school system were about 30 points lower than math and reading scores for white students,” McElrath said. In math, the gap between white and black fourth- graders is the same as the nation, while eight-graders had a wider disparity than nationally. To bridge the gap, support ers of inner city schools have argued for more resources and better-trained teachers in less-affluent areas. Otherwise, they contend, African American students will continue to lag. “This gap is intricately wound to racially identifi able schools and economical ly identifiable schools and classrooms within schools,” Collins said. “This is a seri ous indictment not only of Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, but also for urban school districts across the country.” Dru’s Hair Care Saloit Relaxer & Treatment & Style $45 Shampoo,Conditioner & Coior.$40 Shampoo, Cut & Style $40 Shampoo, Treatment & Style....$35 Need Hairstylist ASAP; Ethnic & Caucasian Hair Need Massage Thearpist - ASAP Please Call Appointment Tues-Fri: 9:30 - 8:00 Sat. 9:00 - 5:00 9238 Albermarle Rd. Charlotte, NC 704-535-3830 One Nation... One Dream... Let Freedom Ring! Uflitadvny Of Conlfgi CarollMs, Inc. lW'0U,T^^flKN0yi^ McCrorey Family YMCA Presents 10th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast Monday, January 19, 2004 7:00 A.M. Adam’s Mark Hotel 555 South McDowell Street, Charlotte Doors open at 6:45 A.M. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bonnie Hines, Pastor, Walls AMEZ Church For More Information, call 704-716-6500 Individual Tickets $20.00 Proceeds are directed toward our Community Outreach Campaign so that the dreams of Children and teens may be realized. NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR THE MLK SPIRIT AWARD, CALL 704-716-6506 FOR EMEO all the progress for children, dismantle the federal role, whether it’s been pro^viding for an equal opportunity in education or with Head Start or -with child health, they’re trying to ■wipe it aU out,” Edelman says. “There’s a different ideological view about what the role of the federal government should be.” As in the past 21 years, millions will observe the King holiday by taking off work to attend church ser vices, cml and educational programs in honor of the fall en civil rights hero, slain April 4,1968 at the age of 39. But, this year, the holiday comes during a hotly con tested presidential race ■with issues involving billions of tration. In early 2000, the CDF demanded the Bush administration stop using its trademarked slogan, “Leave No Child Behind.” Then, last February, Edelman joined cml rights leaders around the country, declaring that Bush had “declared war on children” with cuts to school programs and block-granted Head Start in some states. THE CHARLOTTE POST (USPS 965-500) is pub lished weekly for $40.00 per year by the Charlotte Post Publishing Co., 1531 Camden Rd. Charlotte, NC 28203-4753. Periodicals postage paid at Charlotte, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE CHARLOTTE POST, PO Box 30144, Charlotte, NC 28230 Compare BEFORE You Buy I&ZIAH’S Funiture WriSTTEKL SzVLE dollars being spent for the war in Iraq and controver sial tax cuts that have caused major cuts in social programs for children. This is not the first time that Edelman has publicly criticized the Bush adminis- Vauehn Bassett NOW 6pc. Slei^ Bedroom Suit MADE IN U.S.A. $899.“” ^Reg. $1349” •O.A.C. 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Jan. 15, 2004, edition 1
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