In Brown vs. Board of Education, the US Supreme Court ordered that all Americans have equal opportunity for education. Fifty years later, California is failing miserably to meet that standard. In fact, a new Harris Poll of teachers shows that the neediest kids are stuck in the schools that provide the worst conditions for learning. But for the first time, the survey shows that teachers now support improving the public schools by increasing local authority and accountability. Warren Olney talks about the report and getting the state to obey the law with Richard Riordan, the Governor-s top education advisor, and John Rogers of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, who co-authored an analysis of the recent survey.
- Reporter's Notebook: Another Kennedy takes on Bush, Has Schwarzenegger-s Ear
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, is a passionate environmentalist and lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. A high-profile critic of President Bush, he's a somewhat lower-profile advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger, who-s married to Kennedy-s cousin, Maria Shriver. Kennedy, who will address a crowd of celebrities at the Wadsworth Theater in Brentwood tonight, believes the environment is not the province of any one political party.
Brown v Board of Education (1954)
Report on the Status of Public School Education in California, 2004 (by Harris Poll)
Separate and Unequal 50 Years after Brown (analysis of Harris' report)
Kennedy's 'Crimes against Nature' (Rolling Stone0
Kennedy on the "junk science" of President Bush
