Democrats Near End of Primary Stretch

With primaries today in Kentucky and Oregon, some in Barack Obama's camp are saying that by the end of the day he'll have enough convention delegates to get the nomination ... and therefore, he'll be the nominee.  No way, says Hillary Clinton, "There is no way this is going to end anytime soon, because we're going to keep fighting for the nomination..."

In other words, the convention's not 'til August.  Don't count your chickens before they hatch.  "None of us is going to have the number of delegates we're going to need to get to the nomination, although I understand my opponent and his supporters are gonna claim that," says Clinton.

Barack Obama isn't campaigning against Hillary Clinton - he doesn't want to offend her supporters. 

So, he's just ignoring her and going after John McCain as if he were already the nominee. 

"You can vote for John McCain, and nothing will change.  We'll keep fighting a war in Iraq that hasn't made us safer.  We'll keep talking tough in Washington, while countries like Iran ignore our tough talk.  Or, we can turn the page," says Obama.

Not so fast, says Senator Clinton, "If it's a big issue to you and your family, I'm the only candidate left with a universal health care plan that's going to cover every single one of you..."

On fuel prices?

"I would go after the energy speculators.  We've got to do that.  They're adding to the price of oil.  They are manipulating the market," says Clinton.

On the war?

"I will, on my first day in office, will ask the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and my security advisers to give me a plan that will enable me to start withdrawing our troops within 60 days," says Clinton.

Said the Zen Master:  "We shall see..." 

Obama, McCain Spar Like It's Fall, Already

Senator Barack Obama says if he's elected President, he's willing to talk face-to-face and without conditions with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.

He says, "Why shouldn't we have the same courage and confidence to talk to our enemies?  That's what strong countries do.  That's what strong Presidents do. That's what I'll do when I'm President of the United States of America."

On that idea, Senator John McCain, the Republican Presidential candidate apparent, says, "Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment.  The next President ought to understand such basic realities of international relations."

Iran is a tiny country compared to what the Soviet Union was, says Barack Obama, "If we were willing to talk to Gorbachev, if we were willing to talk to Khrushchev, then there's no reason we shouldn't be willing to talk to Iran.   Seems like common sense."

It doesn't seem like common sense to John McCain.

"An ill-conceived meeting between the President of the United States and the President of Iran - and the massive world media coverage it would attract - would increase the prestige of an implacable foe of the United States.  They might not become a superpower, but the threat that the Government of Iran poses is anything but 'tiny,'" says McCain.

Says Obama, "The reason Iran is so much more powerful now than it was a few years ago is because of the Bush-McCain policy of fighting an endless war in Iraq and refusing to pursue direct diplomacy with Iran.  They're the ones who have not dealt with Iran wisely..."

A preview, perhaps of things to come.  It's going to be a long summer. 

Taking A Fresh Look at "No Child Left Behind"

The Federal No Child Left Behind law says that all students must reach certain goals by a certain time.

Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy says, "It sets the expectations high that every child will be proficient in reading and math by 2013 and 2014.  But the law allows each state to define what that means."

The states know that they'll look better, at first, anyway, if they set the bar low.

"So, some states tend to lowball it.  Some states tend to set goals at a lower level.  But in a way, it's because they're trying to realistic about the support they're going to get from the public to achieve those goals," says Jennings.

Jack Jennings is president of the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy, which says in a new report, that when the target school year comes, the lowballing states may not make it.

"The problem is that we're not working hard enough to be able to do better for all kids --- and therefore, we might not be able to reach that goal," says Jennings.

Our schools aren't getting worse, says Jennings, "What's happened in the last 10 to 15 years is that we have not done worse - we've done better than we did before - but the rest of the world is catching up with us, and going beyond us."

And five years from now, a lot of our students, when they're tested, aren't going to make the targeted improvements.

"We're measuring it only by test scores.  What's happened throughout the country is that teachers are increasing test scores, but they are not increasing them fast enough so that every child is going to be at a certain level as anticipated under the law," says Jennings.

Some say the 100% proficiency target actually is a disincentive for states to raise their academic standards.  That's not the problem, says the new report.

"The problem is that the law is very strong on setting goals.  It's very weak on providing the assistance for states and school districts and teachers to help kids to achieve these goals," says Jennings."

America's Endangered Places

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private non-profit group, has issued a list of this year's most endangered historic places. They include California's parks, a brick schoolhouse in Topeka, and the entire Lower East Side of Manhattan.   

Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation says, "This is really intended to raise the focus on different kinds of historic threats to different kinds of historic places, all over the country."

Different places are historic for different reasons, says Richard Moe, "The Lower East Side of New York is probably one of America's most famous and most important neighborhoods, because it really tells the story of immigration in America.  Almost every ethnic group imaginable came through the Lower East Side from Ellis Island at some point."

You can't bring back those tenement days, but Moe says, "There's a threat of very inappropriate development.  It's already occurring - some high-rise luxury apartment buildings are intruding on the skyline, and changing the character of the Lower East Side."

Some historic places just need tending to, he says, "Californians love their parks - Americans love their state parks, wherever they are.  But they need attention, and they need resources to be maintained."

But that takes money, of course, says Moe "There's over a billion dollars in deferred maintenance in California state parks - and that's really unacceptable."

That old brick schoolhouse in Topeka was the springboard for "Brown vs. Board of Education."
 
"It's enormously important.  It really began the civil rights movement right there.  The City of Topeka owns the school.  They've allowed it to remain empty, and they've allowed it to deteriorate - and that's totally unacceptable," says Moe.

The Trust can only point out these places they think somebody should do something about.

"We think that the community of Topeka should rally to save this school, if not as a school - then for some other appropriate use," says Moe.