The NY Times has a piece out today on how Barack Obama “Looks to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan.” (God, help us)

Here’s the section on terrorist Bill Ayers and the Annenberg Challenge:

Chicago received $49 million from a $500 million endowment by Walter H. Annenberg, the billionaire publisher, for school reform efforts nationwide, and the city added $98 million in matching funds for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a philanthropic campaign that financed enrichment projects at a third of the city’s 600 schools.
… Supporters of Mr. McCain have been trying to taint Mr. Obama by highlighting his ties to William Ayers, a member of the violent Weather Underground in the 1960s, by pointing out that they worked on the Challenge project together. Mr. Ayers was indicted on conspiracy charges that were later thrown out for prosecutorial misconduct.
Mr. Obama has acknowledged that he is a friend of Mr. Ayers but has sought to minimize their interactions. Records show that Mr. Ayers, now a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, helped write the Challenge proposal. The records also show that he and Mr. Obama worked on the Challenge project together and that they attended some of the same meetings.
… Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said the reading and math scores of the lowest-achieving students improved in the years when the Challenge was investing in the Chicago schools.
But a final report on the Challenge concluded that the huge effort had brought little change.
“The Challenge’s ‘bottom line’ was improving student achievement,” the report said. “Among the schools it supported, the Challenge had little impact on student outcomes.”

This is what happens when you put a terrorist in charge of reforming public schools I guess. So, how does the NY Times spin this gigantic Obama failure?

But the experience gave Mr. Obama an appreciation for the multiple problems facing urban schools, Mr. Rolling said. The city has been a pioneer ever since in exploring ways to recruit, train and support teachers.

I’m glad he can appreciate it now, but shouldn’t he have understood this before spending the $50 million?

This is the heart of the Bill Ayers matter. It’s not what happened years ago, it’s what happened in Chicago with those public school students. Obama doesn’t “get it.” The very fact that he accepted a position side by side with Bill Ayers calls into question his judgment, not just on education reform, but on everything.