Rev. A. R. Bernard, Christian Cultural Center;

Rev David Brawley, Associate Pastor, St. Paul Community Baptist Church;

Jeb Bush, Former Governor of Florida;

Meria Carstarphen, Superintendent, St. Paul Public Schools;

Stacey Childress, Lecturer, Harvard Business School;

Harold Ford, Jr., Four-term U.S. Congressman and Chair, Democratic Leadership Council;

David Harris, President and CEO, The Mind Trust;

Kevin Johnson, Founder and CEO, St. Hope;

Jason Kamras, 2005 National Teacher of the Year;

Ernest Logan, President, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators;

Janet Murguia, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza;

Brian G. Osborne, Superintendent of the School District of South Orange & Maplewood;

Paul Pastorek, Louisiana State Superintendent of Education;

Bart Peterson, Former Mayor of Indianapolis;

Dianne Piche, Executive Director, Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights;

Nelson Smith, President, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools;

Joshua Starr, Superintendent, Stamford Public Schools;

Bill Taylor, Civil Rights lawyer and Chair, Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights;

Kate Walsh, President, National Council on Teacher Quality; and

Roger Wilkins, Civil Rights leader, journalist

The Education Equality Project was formed by the Reverend Al Sharpton and New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein to energize a coalition around the belief that the decades-long failure of the nation's public schools to educate needy and minority kids constitutes a civil rights crisis. The Education Equality Project will work to make education central to the domestic agenda of the presidential candidates, and will host town halls on education at both parties' conventions. After the election it will work at both the federal and state levels to mobilize opinion and drive reform.

Recent praise

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings last week praised the Education Equality Project, saying, "I'm pleased that he [former Colorado Governor Roy Romer] and Joel Klein are teaming up with the Reverend Al Sharpton, Representative J.C. Watts, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and other game changers who are demanding more from our schools - and getting it.

"This is exactly the type of alliance that we need more of. We must work closely together with like-minded people who may not be our natural allies, but who share a common concern for the education of all students."

Speaking at the same education conference, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said: "Let me quote a great education leader: 'Reform is never finished and success is never final.' That's our host, Governor Bush, speaking. And as usual, he has hit the nail right on the head. So has New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who last week helped launch a new national campaign, 'The Educational Equality Project,' designed to put school reform front-and-center in this year's Presidential election. I say: More power to them.

"Because both major candidates and both major parties must address this ringing indictment included in the Education Equality Project's 'statement of principles,' and I quote: 'Despite the urgency of the need and the righteousness of the cause, public education today remains mired in a status quo that not only ill serves most poor children, but shows little prospect of meaningful improvement. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is the trap we must avoid, or risk losing another generation of our children.'"

Statements by new signers

"As a superintendent in a capital city of a swing state like Minnesota, we welcome a rigorous dialogue on education policy and practices," said Meria Carstarphen, Superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools. "We need to challenge ourselves and those who wish to lead our country to bring a renewed, real understanding of the potential for all of our students in all parts of our country to achieve. We need to believe in our students -- all of our students -- and we need to model the cooperation we seek from them. For too long our communities, our states, and our educational institutions have been divided on how best to serve all of our students. We have an opportunity, from wherever we live and lead, from the swing states to the coasts, to make a difference."

"Public education is one of those powerful issues that can bring together those who fight for social justice and those who worry about U.S. economic competitiveness," Stacey Childress said. "When the zip code you're born in is highly correlated with your access to the knowledge and skills that lead to economic opportunity, we all lose. We can do better, and a broad-based coalition of interests like those represented in the Education Equality Project is necessary to make sure that we do."

"The socioeconomic and racial achievement gap has persisted for generations, and the best efforts to address that gap have only achieved narrow gains toward true equality of opportunity in education," Congressman Ford said. "The time has come to build unconventional coalitions and to test bold, new solutions if we aim to ensure that all children receive the education they need and deserve."

"We are in the midst of an educational and moral crisis in our country," Kevin Johnson said. "As a nation, we are not providing children equal access to quality education. Particularly hard hit are poor and minority children who are often trapped in failing schools. It is incumbent upon us, as leaders in this country, to ensure that this injustice is rectified. We must live up to our promise of being the land of equal opportunity. The Education Equality Project, under the leadership of Joel Klein and Reverend Sharpton, will put a much needed microscope on this problem and will demand that we begin implementing the difficult solutions associated with addressing it."

"We, the adults of this nation, must promise our children that the opportunity to pursue their dreams will be constrained only by the limits of their imagination, and never by their zip code," Jason Kamras said. "And I believe passionately that we can fulfill this promise. All we need is courage. Courage to elevate the interests of students above those of teachers, principals, and central office staff. Courage to reject mediocrity and reward excellence. Courage to spend more on what's working and less on what's not. Courage to embrace new ideas, whether from the left or the right. Let us all have the courage to relegate educational inequity to the history books once and for all."

"The concept behind this project is a worthy one, and it's critical that Principals and Assistant Principals are part of the conversation," Ernest Logan said. "You cannot improve student achievement or move an educational agenda forward without having effective school leaders in place. These leaders provide the vision, structure, and support that make quality classroom instruction possible. It's essential that we develop strategies to select, recruit, train, and support those leaders, so they can properly focus on doing what's best for children."

"We're proud to join this campaign because we share the belief that providing high-quality public education for all our children is the civil rights struggle of the new century," Nelson Smith said. "Charter schools across the country are succeeding at closing the achievement gap - and that's a signal accomplishment for our movement."

"I believe that we must change the conversation about public education in the 21st century," Joshua Starr said. "The Education Equality Project represents an important shift in the discourse about the complex forces that shape and constrain public education."

"Think schools don't make a big difference? Go into the bleakest neighborhood and look into the eyes of young children just starting school," Kate Walsh said. "Their eyes are lit up with enthusiasm and curiosity. Then watch what happens after years of educational neglect. Their eyes grow dull--dull with failure, disappointment, and boredom. How can we continue to turn our backs on these children?"

"The way in which we have organized education in America is every bit as dangerous to our future as are greenhouse gases," Roger Wilkins said. "With every generation the challenges become steeper and the need for intellectual power greater. And yet we are squandering the potential of millions of young Americans in dysfunctional schools. Fixing our schools to ensure that every child gets the best education we have to offer is more than a moral imperative, it's a matter of our national survival."