Obama's Spectacular Failure as an Executive: Documented

Obama's Spectacular Failure as an Executive: Documented

by Maggie Thornton of Maggie's Notebook

Senator Barack Obama's spectacular failure during his only known executive experience is now documented. We can read it for ourselves, however it is in a pdf format and as I attempted to upload it to this post, I got a "file corrupted' message.

I've transcribed some highlights below, and you can view Parts 1 and 2 of the pdf here.

Background: Barack Obama was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a foundation designed to increase learning and personal achievement skills in chosen school programs. Weatherman terrorist, William Ayers, is thought to have had a major role in choosing the untried Obama for the COB position. Ayers was an ex-officio board member. Obama and Ayers presided over a very powerful political duo: the CAC headed by Obama and The Collaborative, co-chaired by Ayers. The Annenberg Foundation donated approximately $50 million and another $50-$60 million came from matching funds. Obama-Ayers spent all the funding before the Challenge was shut-down or morphed into another Foundation, without Obama. Here's the documented failed results of about $110 million

Begin notes from the pdf:
Since we are talking about Barack Obama's leadership skills as an executive, there is this statement in The Chicago Annenberg Report [Page 37 Part 1]:

Structurally and politically, the Challenge had difficulty developing a close and productive working relationship with the CPS central administration. The relationship was tenuous at best; for the most part it was strained and at times it was antagonistic. Top system administrators did not fully trust the Challenge's leadership....

The following is from Part 1, unless otherwise noted.

Report Title: The Chicago Annenberg Challenge: Successes, Failures, and Lessons for the Future Final Technical Report of the Chicago Annenberg Research Project

Executive Summary:

The Challenge's "bottom line"...the Challenge had little impact on student outcomes. [Page 14]

...There were no statistically significant differences between Annenberg schools and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain. [Page 15]

Classroom behavior, students' sense of self-efficacy, and social competence were weaker in 2001 than before the Challenge. Like student academic achievement, there were no statistically significant differences in these outcomes between Annenberg schools and non-Annenberg schools. [Page 15]

...Any improvements were much like those occurring in demographically similar non-Annenberg schools. [Page 15]

...Although some measures of organizational capacity were slightly stronger or weaker in 2001 than at the beginning of the Challenge, there was little net change. In all, the organizational capacity of Annenberg schools at the end of the Challenge looked much like it did at the beginning. [Page 16]

In 1998-1999, the CAC reports [page 27]:

Students in grades three through eight scoring at or above national norms on the ITBS [Iowa Tests of Basic Skills:

Reading: CAC 36% as compared to Chicago schools citywide 35%
Mathematics: CAC 43% as compared to Chicago schools citywide 42%

1993 Eighth Grade Graduates who:
Graduated from Chicago Public High School: 40% for both Annenberg Schools and CPS
Dropped out: Annenberg Schools 35%, CPS 36%
Left Public School: Annenberg Schools 35%, CPS 24%

Although Annenberg schools appeared to outperform non-Annenberg schools in some years at particular grade levels, the reverse appeared to occur in other years. None of these differences were statistically significant. [Page 55]

See an interesting chart on Page 57

Student Classroom Behavior. ...In 2001, students in Annenberg schools were somewhat less inclined than in 1994 to respect each other, work well together, and help each other learn. They were somewhat less likely to report that students who do well in school are not made fun of; that students work together to solve problems; and they they get along well, care about each other, and treat each other with respect....[Page 59]

Focus on Student Learning. ...increased slightly between 1994 and 1999 but then declined by 2001 so it was only slightly stronger than in 1994. In both 1994 and 2001, teachers in Annenberg schools were likely to agree but not strongly agree that their schools maximized instructional time, set high standards for student academic performance, had well-defined learning expectations for students, and made decisions based on what was best for students....[Page 84]

Comment on Parent and Community Involvement Page 90

Summary echoing much of the above on Page 112

Echoing Obama's campaign rhetoric: broad goals, no strategies.

The second part of this report says that the Chicago Annenberg Challenge had "Broad Goals, Vague Strategies and lists this among the reasons for failure. [Page 8 - Report 2].

Lest we think the Annenbergs did not interact with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge:

...research project staff formally interviewed and spoke regularly with the Challenge's Executive Director [Barack Obama], Program Director and Grants Manager. [Page 45]

Thanks to Riehl World View: CAC Doc Drop: Obama has Mare than Ayers to Worry About Now for the path to the documents PLUS MORE. Reihl World has screen shots of a businessman and board member's evaluation that is a MUST-SEE.

Here's a portion: "The proposals, by and large, were awful."

Other Related:
Obama-Ayers: Chicago Schools Failed Under Ethnic Identity Agenda

Obama-Ayers Funnel Funds to Jeremiah Wright and The Arab American Network?

Michelle Malkin - Obama's Ayers problem deepens