http://www.fayettevillenc.com/...
Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards honored a promise Friday
he made at the beginning of the school year, handing out $300,000 in scholarships
to pay for the first year of college for more than 100 students at a rural
high school in eastern North Carolina.
Administrators at Greene Central High School say his pledge helped nearly
double the number of college-bound seniors.
"We chose this county and this school because we saw the potential," Edwards
told students at a crowded awards ceremony Friday.
The "College for Everyone" program covers the college bills of high-school
seniors who complete a college prep or college tech course in high school,
refrain from using drugs or alcohol, and don't get suspended or commit a
crime.
In Greene County, an impoverished community 60 miles southeast of Raleigh,
70 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch, and an average graduating
class in years past sent just a quarter of its students to college....
Since his failed bid two years ago as the running mate of Democratic presidential
candidate Sen. John Kerry, Edwards has traveled the nation advocating programs
to relieve poverty while considering another run at the executive office.
Edwards originally designed the "College For Everyone" program as a government
initiative, but settled on establishing the Greene County project as a prototype
for future efforts.
It's already growing. With overwhelming support from private contributors
who financed the program, Edwards extended his college scholarship plan Friday
to a second class of students in Greene County.
"This is a model of what we could and should be doing for the whole country,"
Edwards said.
Edwards' original "College for Everyone" Plan offered one year of
tuition at public universities and community colleges to high school graduates
who promised to work the equivalent of 10 hours a week on community service
projects.
This is exactly the sort of program -- and maybe even more ambitious -- that
should be at the core of a new Democratic Agenda that includes specifics
and pushes progressivism forward.
And here, with very little fan-fair, Edwards has put his money where is mouth
is.
Wanna hear what else John Edwards is up to? See JRE News at Vol. XIII
at
http://blog.oneamericacommittee.com/...