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Media Advisory for Immediate Release
May 23, 2008

Contacts:
Jocelyn Webster, Strong American Schools
(202) 870-9820 – Cell
Jocelyn Webster@strongamericanschools.org
Krista Zaharias, Strong American Schools
(202) 870-1097 – Cell
Krista.Zaharias@strongamericanschools.org

NATIONAL EDUCATION REFORM CAMPAIGN, ED IN ’08, LAUNCHES IN THE SHOW-ME STATE

Over 300 Students Join County Exec. Charlie Dooley, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, Former Governor Bob Holden, ED in ’08 Chairman Roy Romer And Other Missouri Leaders To Challenge Presidential Candidates To Address America’s Education Crisis

St. Louis, MO - As students prepare to graduate this spring, nearly 20,000 students in Missouri, and 1.2 million nationally, will not receive their diplomas with their peers, indicating that schools in Missouri and across the nation are failing to prepare students for college, work and life.

In Missouri, according to Alliance for Excellent Education, a ninth grader attending school in one of the two largest school districts has less than a 40 percent chance of graduating from high school within four years. Specifically in St. Louis City, the state’s largest school district, only 37 percent of ninth graders receive their diplomas with their peers; in Kansas City, the state’s second largest school district, the outlook is worse with merely 31 percent of ninth graders graduating on time.

To address this crisis, a group of bipartisan leaders, including County Exec. Charlie Dooley, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, Former Governor Bob Holden and Chairman Roy Romer, will join with Strong American Schools’ ED in ’08 campaign and students from across St. Louis to challenge presidential candidates to put forth real solutions to fix America’s education system and ensure that every student is prepared to compete in a global marketplace.

The campaign, which is an unprecedented effort, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations and The Eli and Edythe Broad foundation, calls on all presidential candidates to improve America’s public schools.

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Time: 12:00pm CT

Location: Saint Louis Science Center
5050 Oakland Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110

Note: Media are encouraged to RSVP