ObamaOdrama

Obama has named Maria Eitel, president of the Nike Foundation, to serve as Chief Executive Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service ahead of his plans to sign a landmark bill spending $6 Billion dollars on increasing volunteerism in the U.S. later today.

from the White House….

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 21, 2009

President Obama Announces Intention to Nominate Maria Eitel to be Chief Executive Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service

WASHINGTON - Today, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Maria Eitel to be Chief Executive Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service.

President Obama said, “I am pleased to announce my intent to nominate Maria Eitel to be CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service. Maria brings a unique blend of skills and management experience that will help her successfully lead the Corporation during our Administration’s bold expansion of national service programs. Maria is genuinely passionate about the role of national and community service as a vehicle for engaging and mobilizing citizens in social change, and will bring new, creative thinking to the growth and mission of the Corporation.”

“I am deeply honored to be nominated to become CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. President Obama and all those who champion service have led us to this historic moment to redefine citizenship in this country. Should I be confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to helping make President Obama’s vision a reality for everyone,” said Maria Eitel.

Maria Eitel , Nominee for Chief Executive Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Maria Eitel is the President of the Nike Foundation and a Vice President of NIKE, Inc. As president of the Nike Foundation, she has lead the Foundation’s work to increase opportunities for the world’s most disadvantaged girls.

Prior to becoming the Foundation’s first president, Ms. Eitel served as Nike Inc.’s first vice president for corporate responsibility, leading the development and implementation of the company’s first corporate responsibility agenda.
Before Nike, Ms. Eitel served as European corporate affairs group manager for Microsoft Corporation where she managed corporate, public and community affairs for the company’s European headquarters. Prior to Microsoft, she worked with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and MCI Communications Corp.

From 1989 to 1992, Ms. Eitel served in the White House as deputy director of media relations and later as special assistant to the President for media affairs. Ms. Eitel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and is an alumnus of the Stanford University Business School Executive Program.

The Serve America Act (S. 277) is the Senate version of the House’s G.I.V.E. Act (H.R.1138) that was passed last month by a vote of 79 - 19.  The bill has since been renamed “The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act” after the Senator who sponsored it and is currently suffering from a brain tumor.

Very fitting…

A sign of things to come…

Romeike, his wife Hannelore, and their children live in a modest duplex about 40 miles northeast of Knoxville while they seek political asylum here. They say they were persecuted for their evangelical Christian beliefs and homeschooling their children in Germany, where school attendance is compulsory.

 This story struck a chord with me as a father thinking about homeschooling.  It wasn’t that long ago in California, parents who homeschooled their own children faced similar persecution.

California has compulsory education statutes that require children ages 6 to 18 to attend full-time day school, public or private, or be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child’s grade level.

In Feb. 2008, a California appeals court ruling upheld the statutes in a child welfare dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary Long who home schooled their eight children.

Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28th:

“Parents do not have the constitutional right to home school their children.  Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program.”

So basically, parents could be prosecuted for truancy violations and or possibly have their children removed under allegations of educational neglect… sounds familiar.

Obviously this ruling pleased the state’s largest teachers union, the California Teachers Association. 

“We’re happy,” said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. “We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting.”

Fortunately, public outrage forced the same three-judge panel to reconsider its ruling and in August 2008 they unanimously decided “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.”

Even more recently, Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County ordered three children to attend public school because the homeschooling their mother provided over the last four years need to be “challenged.”  The children test 2 years above their grade level. 

Unfortunately Americans face the real possibility that homeschooling might be banned if we are asked to sacrifice just a little bit more.

I reported on the House passing the controversial G.I.V.E. Act yesterday. Here is an update from the Washington Examiner.

Between being first officially “reported” to the House and being voted on by the full House, bill managers stripped one whole section of the measure that created a Congressional Commission on Civil Service, thus removing the section that contained the language cited above concerning “a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people” and a possible requirement for “all individuals in the United States” to perform such service. The section could be restored during the Senate-House conference committee meeting. A new, separate bill containing that language has since been introduced in the House.

Why does this bring me little comfort when H.Res 1444 is still out there. Btw, Senate version of the G.I.V.E. Act passed 79-19.

ROLL CALL Here are the Republicans who voted “aye”
Lamar Alexander [R, TN]
Sen. Robert Bennett [R, UT]
Sen. Christopher Bond [R, MO]
Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC]
Sen. Saxby Chambliss [R, GA]
Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]
Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
Sen. Michael Enzi [R, WY]
Sen. Charles Grassley [R, IA]
Sen. Judd Gregg [R, NH]
Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT]
Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX]
Sen. John Isakson [R, GA]
Sen. Mike Johanns [R, NE]
Sen. Richard Lugar [R, IN]
Sen. Mel Martinez [R, FL]
Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK]
Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME]
Sen. Arlen Specter [R, PA]
Sen. George Voinovich [R, OH]
Sen. Roger Wicker [R, MS]