Where Does Damon Weaver go to School?

Damon Weaver, whose Joe Biden is My Homeboy video rocketed him to national fame during the presidential campaign, is a student at K. E. Cunningham/Canal Point Elementary, a 528 student PK-6 public elementary school in Florida’s Palm Beach County School District. Despite the impressive recording studio on display in this video, this is hardly an affluent school: More than 96 percent of the school’s students are economically disadvantaged. Nearly 70 percent of the student body is African American, and over 25 percent is Hispanic. Unfortunately, the school’s academic performance is not very impressive. Only 45 percent of the school’s fourth graders are proficient in reading–well below state averages–although 78 percent are proficient in math. The school failed to make adequate yearly progress under NCLB for the 2007 school year because its students fell short of achievement targets. It received a grade of “B” on the Florida state accountability system.

Damon’s clearly a smart, charismatic kid with the potential for a bright future ahead of him: Will his education prepare him to make the most of that potential? Is he getting the kind of education we should demand for all our kids? What about his less famous peers? We think it’d be pretty cool if Obama did agree to let Damon interview him. But we think a much more important question is: What will Obama’s education policy agenda do to improve outcomes for Damon, his schoolmates, and kids like them across the country?