[AAACE-NLA] Leave No Cartoon Behind

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_Leave No Cartoon Behind_ 
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=nljho8aab.ixzfm9n6.aguao8aab.tiniiyn6.58610&p=http://www.tompaine.com/articles/leave_no_cartoon_behind.ph
p)  
Sunday, January 30,  2005
TomPaine.com

Leave No Cartoon Behind
Earl Hadley 
January 28, 2005

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In late January, the new education secretary made _headlines_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40188-2005Jan26.html)  for  criticizing a 
children's program on PBS which features an animated rabbit  visiting a real 
family headed by lesbian parents. The Campaign for  America's Future's Earl Hadley 
wonders where Secretary Spellings'  priorities are. Working families around 
the country are struggling to pay  for college. Two days before Christmas, the 
administration announced that  it would enforce a change in the Pell grant 
funding formula that will  eliminate Pell Grants for nearly 100,000 students and 
cut the aid for more  than one million students. How about focusing on that? 
Earl Hadley is the education program  coordinator at the _Campaign  For 
America's Future_ (http://www.ourfuture.org/) . 
What's today's word, class?  Priorities. The new  secretary of education's 
first act after taking office was to condemn  a cartoon.  Let's not worry about 
the achievement gap. Let's not  worry about rising tuition. Let's not even 
worry about investigating the  Education Department for paying commentators to 
promote its policies… No,  in her first act, Secretary Spellings decided to take 
on Buster the  Bunny—an animated character who happens to make friends with a 
little girl  named Emma whose parents are lesbians. 
PBS developed a series—Postcards From Buster —in which Buster  travels to 
different communities around the country to highlight cultural  diversity.  In a 
letter to PBS, Spellings sharply criticized Buster's  visit to a gay 
household in Vermont—saying that "many parents would not  want their young children 
exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this  episode." 
Instead of protecting America's children from the "gay agenda,"  Spellings 
should have used her time to support legislation protecting  89,000 college 
students at risk of losing their Pell Grants—thanks to an  eligibility change 
instituted by her predecessor. Pell Grants help low-  and middle-income families 
send their children to college. She should have  spent her time convincing the 
president to significantly increase the  maximum Pell Grant next year—higher 
than the $100 he's proposing. 
In the future—instead of writing letters—Spellings needs to use her  
influence to make sure that President Bush actually raises the maximum  Pell Grant. 
In 2000, Bush—who calls himself the 'education'  president—campaigned on 
increasing the maximum Pell Grant to $5,100. But  his last budget left the maximum 
grant at $4,050. There's no reason to  believe Bush is being sincere now, 
particularly when he and conservatives  in Congress over the past few years have 
ignored bills proposing to raise  the maximum Pell Grant. The president's 
recent proposed increase was  a response to the outrage around students losing 
their Pell Grants. It's  up to progressives to keep Bush's feet to the fire, if 
families are going  to see this increase. 
Instead of serving as a foot soldier for conservative censorship,  Spellings 
needs to pay attention to the concerns of the majority of  Americans—families 
and students struggling to pay for college. Below  are a few examples of why 
the education secretary needs to put students  and their families first
Donna  Martinez

"The world is dangerous not because of those  who do harm, but because of 
those who look at it without doing anything." -  Albert Einstein




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