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Biden, Duncan and Geithner Honor an Inspring Reform Model

vonzastrowc's picture

"Say Yes to Education" may finally get its due. Joe Biden, Arne Duncan and Tim Geithner converged on Syracuse yesterday to learn about the innovative program.

We've honored Say Yes time and again on this website. The initiative has nearly closed high school and college graduation gaps separating urban youth from their suburban peers. How? By providing low-income youth comprehensive supports ranging from health care to academic help and college scholarships.

So will this event catapult Say Yes into the national consciousness? Early signs aren't good. The event has been covered, well, almost nowhere. Not in the education press. Not in the blogosphere.

It did get a few hits in the local Syracuse papers, but those focused mostly on college affordability: an important, but small, facet of the Say Yes program. I suppose I can understand why. The White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families sponsored the event, and college costs weigh heavily on the middle class.

Still, I wish more journalists and education policy types would take notice of the Say Yes model and its accomplishments. After all, the wraparound services and scholarships have nearly closed the college graduation gap in some communities.

That's a big deal, isn't it?


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