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Hundreds of Thousands Mourn In Spain As Toll Rises to 198
Dead, 1,400+ Wounded
No Bush Left Behind: When You're Barred From Banking, Why
Not Bank on Education?
No Child Left Behind: A Debate on the Privatization of Education
8:01:00-8:08:42 Headlines
8:08:42-8:09:42 One Minute Music Break
8:09:42-8:21:49 Hundreds of Thousands Mourn In Spain
As Toll Rises to 198 Dead, 1,400+ Wounded
Schools, museums and the Central Bank have all been shut
down as Spain began three days of mourning today after 10
bombs ripped through four trains in the space of just three
minutes at the height of rush hour in Madrid. We go to Madrid
to get a report from the streets
In Madrid the death toll has risen to at least 198 in Thursday's
train bombings. Officials say 10 bombs ripped through four
trains in the space of just three minutes at the height of
rush hour.
At least 198 people were killed and over 1,400 wounded and
the death toll is expected to rise with 60 of the wounded
in a serious state. The harrowing task of identifying dozens
of bodies is continuing more than 24 hours after the blasts.
Newspapers in Madrid are describing the attacks as "Spain's
9/11."
Witnesses described scenes of horror with trains crushed
like "cans of tuna" while mobile phones rang eerily
from the pockets of the dead.
Spain has begun three days of mourning. Millions are expected
to participate in rallies tonight to mourn the dead. Schools,
museums and the Central Bank have all been shut down.
Spanish officials immediately assumed the Basque separatist
group Eta was behind the attack. The group has previously
targeted the Spanish railway system and two Eta suspects were
arrested last month driving a truck loaded with more than
500kg of explosives headed for Madrid.
But evidence later emerged that forced officials to investigate
a possible Al Qaeda role. First, a van was discovered near
the train station, with detonators and Arabic material inside.
Then, an Arabic newspaper in London received a letter from
a group with ties to Al Qaeda claiming responsibility saying,
"We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader
Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance."
But the letter was viewed with skepticism for the same group
had also taken responsibility for last year's massive black
out along the East Coast.
Spanish editorial writers are demanding answers before voters
go to the polls in Sunday's general election, because the
culprits' identity might influence people's choice of party.
The ruling Popular Party campaigned on a hardline stance
against Eta, but it also defied popular opposition by supporting
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq - which many say could have
triggered an attack by al-Qaeda.
- Geoff Pingree, covering the situation in Madrid for the
Christian Science Monitor.
Link: www.csmonitor.com
8:21:49-8:22:49 One Minute Music Break
8:22:49-8:40:00 No Bush Left Behind: When You're
Barred From Banking, Why Not Bank on Education?
INTRO: After Neil Bush was banned from banking activities
for his role in the Savings and Loan scandal in the late 1980s,
he decided to bank on education and founded Ignite Incorporated.
Ignite sells software to help students prepare to take comprehensive
tests required under the No Child Left Behind act that was
pushed through by Neil's older brother - President Bush.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and President George W Bush
have quite a few things in common. They both went to Yale.
They are both members of the Skull and Bones society. Bush
invaded Iraq and Kerry supported him. The President proposed
the Patriot Act, Kerry voted for it. Bush pushed through the
No Child Left Behind Act and John Kerry voted for that as
well. In fact the things that united Kerry with Bush were
the major points of contention with his former rival Gov.
Howard Dean. Today on the program, we are going to take an
extensive look at one of these: No Child Left Behind.
It has become one of the most contentious policies of the
Bush presidency. Bush considers it to be his crowning achievement
in education policy, saying it will improve Americas schools.
Critics, mainly parents and teachers, who are opposed to privatizing
education, say its about shifting resources from public schools
to corporations. In a moment, we will have a debate on No
Child Left Behind. But first, we're going to look at who's
profiting and who stands to profit.
We'll begin by looking at the Bush family. Everyone knows
the president's brother Jeb is the governor of Florida. But,
less well known is his second youngest brother, Neil Bush.
Years ago, he hit the front pages for his role in the Savings
and Loan scandal. He was director of the Silverado Savings
and Loan when it collapsed in 1988, costing taxpayers more
than $1 billion. As a result, he was banned from banking activities.
So when Neil Bush was banned from banking, he banked on education.
In October 2001, shortly after the United States began bombing
Afghanistan, Neil attended an international technology conference
in Dubai. He was fishing for investors for his latest business
venture -- Ignite Incorporated, an interactive education software
company that he founded in March 1999. Ignite says its goal
is to help students improve their standardized test scores.
And that's where No Child Left Behind comes into play.
Neil Bush's company sells software to prepare students to
take comprehensive tests required under "No Child Left
Behind." Schools that fail the tests will face termination
of federal assistance. The contracts for these test programs
are very lucrative. Ignite is currently running a pilot program
at a Middle School in Orlando, Florida--where Neil's brother
Jeb is governor. The company hopes to sell the software throughout
Florida at $30 per pupil per year.
In mid-February, Houston school board members unanimously
agreed to accept $115,000 in charitable donations that would
be funneled to Ignite. The Houston Independent School District
trustees had initially delayed a vote on the matter in December,
saying they were concerned that Bush's Austin-based company
might be benefiting from his family name. But in February,
the nine board members approved the funding without discussion.
- Ron Nissimov, a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. He
has done a number of recent articles on Neil Bush and his
company Ignite!
- Bill Berkowitz, a journalist who writes for a number
of magazines and online journals. He is a columnist for
Working Assets news site www.workingforchange.com.
Link: www.workingforchange.com
8:40:00-8:41:00 One Minute Music Break
8:41:00-8:58:00 No Child Left Behind: A Debate on
the Privatization of Education
INTRO: The Bush administration's aggressive support of school
vouchers, the so-called faith-based initiative and the No
Child Left Behind Act has drawn criticism from teachers unions
across the country. We host a debate between Stan Karp, editor
of the newspaper Rethinking Schools and a longtime school
teacher and Howard Fuller, the chair of the Board of the Black
Alliance for Educational Options and professor at Marquette
University.
Some of the main sources of criticism from the teachers unions
are the administration's aggressive support of school vouchers,
his so-called faith-based initiative and the No Child Left
Behind Act, which requires mandatory testing and reporting,
with schools that fail to show progress facing cut-offs in
public funding.
At a meeting with the nation's governors last month, Bush's
Education Secretary, Rod Paige, created a firestorm of outrage
from teachers across the US when he called the National Education
Association (NEA) a "terrorist organization" because
teachers have been criticizing what they call Bush's broken
promises on his education reforms. When Paige later "apologized,"
he accused the teachers of "obstructionist scare tactics."
In response, the Campaign for America's Future and MoveOn.org
have joined together to launch a petition calling on the President
to fire Paige. Their website is www.firepaige.org.
Some of the main sources of criticism from the teachers unions
are the administration's aggressive support of school vouchers,
his so-called faith-based initiative and the No Child Left
Behind Act, which requires mandatory testing and reporting,
with schools that fail to show progress facing cut-offs in
public funding. Bush gained bipartisan support for the reforms
in part because the President promised a dramatic increase
in funding to provide schools with the help they need to make
the law work. Representative George Miller recently charged
that the President has broken his promise on funding, falling
more than $25 billion short on what he initially promised.
Meanwhile, as states face their worst fiscal crisis in fifty
years, the President pushed through his top-end tax cuts,
while opposing any protection for school budgets. The resulting
cuts across the country have made implementing the new law
even more difficult.
- Stan Karp, an editor of the newspaper Rethinking
Schools. He has been a school teacher for 28 years.
He currently teaches at John F Kennedy High School in New
Jersey.
- Bill Graves, Republican state legislator in Oklahoma
who has opposed the No Child Left Behind Act.
- Phil Wilayto, a freelance investigative journalist. He
is author of "The Feeding Trough: The Bradley Foundation,
the Bell Curve and the Real Story Behind Wisconsin's National
Model for Welfare Reform."
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu
(RAY MA MU), Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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