Bush Promotes Education Initiative In Denver
DENVER (AP/CBS4) - Former President George W. Bush said Thursday he's still passionate about education, even though he considers himself to be only an observer of politics since he left office.
"Post-presidency is an interesting period for Laura and me. I'm out of politics. I loved being in the arena. I'm now an observer. But I still have a great passion, as does Laura, about education excellence," Bush said after a Denver meeting with local education leaders and Mayor Michael Hancock to talk about an initiative to train and recruit principals.
"We believe that an excellent school must first of all have an excellent leader," he said, describing the Bush Institute's Alliance to Reform Education Leadership.
The initiative seeks to change how principals are recruited, trained and evaluated.
"He really talked about accountability and how it's important to make sure that the leader of the institution sets the right tone for achievement and accomplishment in the school," said Hancock.
Bush was visiting the offices of Get Smart Schools, a nonprofit Colorado group that trains principals for innovation in charter schools. The group is joining a national network that is part of the Bush Institute initiative. Get Smart Schools is one of 16 organizations working with the Bush Institute. Other organizations that are part of the initiative are in Georgia, New York, Illinois and California.
The meeting between the former president and business and education leaders was closed to the press, but Bush talked briefly to reporters afterward. No questions were allowed and he did not respond to a reporter's question about the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Bush's Denver visit was rescheduled from February. He was supposed to visit Get Smarts Schools then, but canceled because WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was invited to speak at a separate event that Bush was also scheduled to attend, the Young Presidents' Organization Global Leadership Summit.
At the time, a Bush spokesman said the former president did not want to participate in a forum that invited someone who has "willfully and repeatedly done great harm to the interests of the United States."
Bush said Get Smarts Schools has set high expectations and the group believes "every child can learn and is willing to train leaders who believe that as well."
Hancock, a Democrat, said Bush only spoke about education during the meeting and did not mention the debate in Congress over the reauthorization of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. The Obama administration wants to revise the law and is giving states the option to seek waivers from some of the unpopular requirements because Congress has failed to come to an agreement. Colorado is among several states seeking waivers.
"He did not talk about Washington, he did not talk about Congress, he did not talk about the president, he didn't talk about Moammar Gadhafi," Hancock said. "He talked about education."
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