Cory Booker: 'The great American crisis of our generation is education'
PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- The nation’s urban education systems are in crisis, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker says he’s open to all ideas, even some that will get him in trouble with his Democratic party. “The great American crisis of our generation is education,” Booker said. But while few like No Child Left Behind, but U.S. Michael Bennet said there’s virtually no chance the landmark education reform will be replace any time soon because no one can agree on how to replace it. Both lawmakers appeared at our Education Writers Association conference this weekend, each looking at different approaches to reforming what goes on in our nation’s schools. Booker said there’s not time to wait. He said people growing up poor in the inner-cities are facing a lifetime of struggles if they don’t get an education that prepares them to compete in a global economy. “A black woman without a high school diploma is more likely to end up in jail than in a full-time job,” he said. “The slavery of the 21st century is the slavery of ignorance. People are shackled to limited life possibilities.”
