September 14, 2011
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Page II
Back to School and Back to Work
Don’t sacrifice
education in
budget battle
M arc H. M orial
Education has always
been the gatew ay to
good jobs and a better
life for the American
people.
This has never been
more true than today.
According to the U.S. Census
B u rea u , p e o p le w ho hold
bachelor’s degrees earn on av
erage $58,000 a year compared
with just $31,000 for high school
graduates and only $21,000 for
those without high school diplo
by
mas.
We also know that a growing
number o f 21st century high-
tech jobs require higher skills
and more education than ever
before.
That is why for more
than 50 years, the National
Urban League’s Education
& Youth Development di
vision has worked to im
prove educational opportu
nities for African-Ameri
can and underserved stu
dents by developing innovative
programs to support their aca
demic achievement, encourage
theircivic involvement, and con
tribute to their healthy physical
and emotional development. We
have also made education a cor-
nerstone of our 21 st century em
powerment agenda with a chal
lenge to the nation that every
American child will be ready for
college, work and life by 2025.
The Urban League serves
more than 200,000 children and
youth each year through Head
Start, after-school programs and
charter schools.
As the nation struggles to find
the right balance between fiscal
austerity and necessary invest
ments in our future, the educa
tion of our children must not be
sacrificed in the process.
Doing so would not only short
change their futures, it would
cripple our ability to grow the
American economy and remain
c o m p e titiv e in the g lo b a l
economy.
We are encouraged by the
Obama Administration’s com
mitment to education, including
signing into law the largest in
vestment in education in history
as part of the President’s 2009
stimulus package - some $115
billion over two years to save
education jo b s, send young
people to college, modernize
America's classrooms, and ad
vance education reforms.
We are also pleased that Edu
cation Secretary Arne Duncan
has set aside this week for an
“Education and the Economy”
bus tour to urban centers, includ
ing Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Mil
waukee, Detroit, and Chicago to
highlight the important connec
tion between quality education
and quality jobs. “No other issue
is more critical to our economy
and our way of life than educa
tion,” said Duncan.
So, as our children head back
to the classroom, we urge stu
dents to do their part by studying
hard and making the most of
what their schools and teachers
have to offer.
We ask parents to do their
part by getting involved.
And we urge local school dis
tricts and Congress to do their
part by ensuring that all our stu
dents have the resources and
support they need to succeed.
M arc H. M orial is president
and ch ief executive officer o f
the National Urban League.
HH m m h m m h h h i
Post 9/11 : Cloak of Fear, Cloak of Hope
J im M oos
For most of us, the day began
like any other day. I was eating
breakfast, listening to a news
program when the first images
were shown— smoke rising from
a World Trade Center tower.
There were unconfirmed reports
that a plane had struck it. The
heart-wrenching hours that fol
lowed are deeply etched into the
memories of most Americans.
Thousands of innocent lives
were lost, and grief remains.
Sadly, the terrible losses of
that day multiplied over the past
decade. A “war on terror” was
quickly declared, and Afghani
stan and Iraq were invaded. Over
4,000 American service person
nel have died in those actions—
more than were killed on 9/11
itself. In addition, tens of thou
sands have been injured. They
will carry physical, emotional and
spiritual scars for the rest of
their lives.
Less a part of the American
consciousness are the massive
losses suffered by Afghani and
by
Iraqi citizens as a result of the
A Vietnam era general said
wars and the chaotic forces they that “war is fear cloaked in cour
unleashed. Over 100,000 of them age.” What is true of individual
have been killed and over 5 mil combatants is also true of soci
lion have been displaced from ety as a whole. The war on
their homes or become refu terror is grounded in fear— fear
gees— mostly innocent civilians. of the other, fear of the un
Their names, faces and stories known, fear of losing control. A
are largely unknown to us, but decade o f violence has not
their families and communities brought us peace and security.
continue to experience pain and Instead, we have suffered and
grief.
inflected grief upon grief.
Post 9/11 losses include vast
Faith calls us to shun fear and
amounts of money spent on the embrace hope. For those of us
wars, even in the midst of an who are Christian, our hope is in
economic crisis. Sadly, some have Christ who taught us to pray for
also lost sight of the full human the establishment of God’s realm,
dignity of our Muslim brothers on earth as in heaven. Ours is
and sisters through stereotyping, the hope that our labors on be
profiling and the bearing of false half of that realm are not in vain;
witness against them.
transform ation of hearts and
As we remember and mourn minds, of institutions and struc
the losses of 9/11, we must also tures is possible.
ask why losses continue to mul
Fear causes us to see the
tiply. A partial answer is that we other as an enemy to be mis
have viewed the future through trusted, m anipulated and de
the lens of fear. The debate over stroyed. Hope, on the other hand,
building a Muslim community welcomes all as neighbors with
center near ground zero reflects whom we seek understanding,
the persistence of that fear.
reconciliation and fellowship.
clu )Jnrthmb (Observer
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Fear leads to revenge, while hope
nurtures forgiveness. Fear per
petuates a never-ending cycle
o f violence, but hope seeks
peace with justice.
As we remember the losses
of 9/11, let us not be led by the
terror we fear. Rather, let the
hope of God’s future lead us to
transform ed relationships, at
home and abroad.
Jim Moos writes fo r Justice
M in is tr ie s in the U n ite d
Church o f Christ.
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