A star shines for kids

So, I was on the phone the other day with actress Angelina Jolie ...

Jolie is at an African resort awaiting the birth of her child with actor Brad Pitt. Hordes of paparazzi camping outside watch her every move. So why did she pick up a telephone and talk with me and other journalists? The answer: poor children and the dearth of opportunities awaiting them. Star power has the gravitational pull to attract journalists to an otherwise low-profile topic and Jolie to journalists she usually avoids.

The actress serves as the honorary chairperson for the U.S. Global Campaign for Education. Along with Gordon Brown, British chancellor of the Exchequer and likely the next prime minister, Jolie participated in a teleconference to raise awareness about educating the world's poorest children.

All stargazing aside, Jolie's message comes with a sense of urgency. More than 100 million children, the majority of them girls, won't see the inside of a classroom anytime soon because their families cannot afford the school fees. Fees can eat up a quarter of a poor family's annual income.

Children getting an education is in everyone's best interest, including ours. Educated girls are more able to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. Educated boys are more likely to pick up books than guns. For every additional year of a child's education in the poorest countries, earnings increase by 11 cents. That's not chump change in nations where workers earn pennies a day.

Knowledge comes at a price. If countries, rather than their youngest citizens, bear the cost, wealthier nations must help. Britain has pledged $15 billion over 10 years. For $10 billion a year, every poor child is able to attend school. Congress should support efforts by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., to spend $1.5 billion in 2007 on universal education.

Efforts work. Kenya eliminated school fees and 1.3 million children enrolled in school. After a similar move in Uganda, the school population jumped from 3 million to 5 million. Yet, 77 of 94 poor countries still charge fees.

Jolie is the darling of the tabloids, but in this conversation I was impressed with her passion for poor children and education, items below the radar of most stars.

— Lynne K. Varner