Pawlenty, Gingrich, and Sharpton discuss education reform

This morning, “Time to Choose: Children or Bureaucracy” a panel on education reform was held at the Marriot Hotel in Minneapolis. It featured presentations from several distinguished speakers, including documentary director Bob Compton, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton. All participants spoke about reaching across party lines and acting on education reform as soon as possible.

Rev. Sharpton said, “The fact of the matter is that all of us, whatever we believe, whatever our party, our philosophy, our religion or our ideologies, all of us will leave behind a world that somehow our kids must go through.” Much of Sharpton’s focus on reform was aimed towards making parents more responsible for and involved in their children’s education.

Speaker Gingrich had a more dramatic approach, one that appeared to be popular with the crowd. “I believe we have to elevate math and science education to a matter of national defense,” he said. “We must improve it greatly to increase our security and secure our future.”