Obama defends education initiative

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The president acknowledges the objections to the administration's Race to the Top program and reasserts the importance of improving the country's school systems.

By Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington —

Calling the status quo "morally inexcusable" and "economically indefensible," President Obama defended his administration's sweeping education initiative Thursday before an audience that has been among the most skeptical of the plan — the National Urban League.

"Education is an economic issue — if not the economic issue of our time," Obama said at the organization's centennial gathering in Washington. "We've got an obligation to lift up every child in every school in this country, especially those who are starting out furthest behind."

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