So far, Obama is coming through on what his platform proposed...his latest tackle is our dismal education system...I feel like our lackluster educational system, from pre-K through college, is heavily correlated w/ high incarceration rates, teen pregnancy, violence among teens, and many other social problems...in order to be tackle the other tough societal dilemmas, we have to start from the bottom and work our way up...underprivileged and underfunded schools need to be focused on and in some cases, structurally re-vamped...early education is imperative to a child's lifelong ability to learn...when a child is missing the fundamentals of education, he or she will continue to fall short throughout life...there's no reason why your child should know every song on the radio, but they can't spell their name or remember their address...educational achievement can also be a generational stifling, which segueways into teen pregnancy rates...I don't like to dissect politics and break things down in this, that, and the 3rd...b/c when you look at the bottom line, everything is always connected, rather it's direct or indirect
The only thing I don't agree w/ is rewarding teachers w/ higher pay...the phrase is "rewarding excellence" is very ambiguous...who will determine what teachers deserve the pay and what teachers don't? Will it be based on students' performance? Will it be based on experience and length in a particular district? I mean, isn't that the purpose of tenure; to ensure the most effective and most qualified teachers stay in the classroom? I agree that teachers are under-paid and their salary differential compared to other professionals is unacceptable...but I'd like to think of teachers a step away from parents; you're doing a thankless job and you go into education b/c you genuinely love it...not for the praise or tangible rewards
Obama: 'We've let our grades slip'
The president takes on unions, backs teacher merit pay in new plan
The Associated Press
updated 11:49 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 10, 2009
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday embraced a new approach to public education that adds up to merit pay for the better teachers and longer days and school years for students.
These proposals, which constitute the new president's vision of an education system that meets 21st century challenges, were sure to generate loud criticism, particularly from teachers' unions.
Educators oppose charter schools because they divert tax dollars away from traditional public schools. Merit-based systems for teachers have been anathema to teachers' unions, a powerful force in Obama's Democratic Party.
Obama acknowledged this in his talk to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
"Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom," he said, delivering the first major education speech of his presidency. "Too many in the Republican Party have opposed new investments in early education, despite compelling evidence of its importance."
'An economic imperative'
But he argued that a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's education system is an economic imperative that can't wait, despite the urgency of the financial crisis and other pressing issues.
"Despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us," Obama said. "The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children. We cannot afford to let it continue. What is at stake is nothing less than the American dream."
The ideas the president promoted were nearly all elements of his campaign platform last year. He only barely mentioned the reauthorization of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act, which introduced sweeping reforms that schools are struggling to meet without the funding to match. Obama said his administration would "later this year" ensure that schools get the funding they need and that the money is conditioned on results.
Among the principles Obama laid out were:
# Challenging states to adopt world-class standards rather than a specific standard. Obama's economic stimulus plan includes a $5 billion incentive fund to reward states for, among other things, boosting the quality of standards and state tests, and the president said the Education Department would create a fund to invest in innovation.
# Improved pre-kindergarten programs, including $5 billion in the stimulus plan to grow Head Start, expand child care access and do more for children with special needs. He also said he would offer 55,000 first-time parents regular visits from trained nurses and said that states that develop cutting-edge plans to raise the quality of early learning programs would get an Early Learning Challenge Grant, if Congress approves the new program.
# Reducing student dropout rates. To students, Obama said: "Don't even think about dropping out of school." But he said that reducing the dropout rates also requires turning around the worst schools, something he asked lawmakers, parents and teachers to make "our collective responsibility as Americans."
# Repeating his call for everyone to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training, with the goal of highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020.
On charter schools, he said the caps instituted by some states on how many are allowed aren't "good for our children, our economy, or our country."
Teacher policy
Obama also spoke at length about what he described his policy toward teachers, what he called an `unprecedented commitment to ensure that anyone entrusted with educating our children is doing the job as well as it can be done." In up to 150 more school districts, Obama said, teachers will get mentoring, more money for improved student achievement and new responsibilities.
Also, Obama said, "We need to make sure our students have the teacher they need to be successful. That means states and school districts taking steps to move bad teachers out of the classroom. Let me be clear: if a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching."
The president acknowledged that a rethinking of the traditional American school day may not be welcome — "not in my family, and probably not in yours" — but is critical.
"The challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom," Obama said. "If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America."
After the speech, Obama stopped at a hotel to drop in on another meeting, an already scheduled and ongoing round-table discussion between Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which involves the heads of education from every state and U.S. territory.
Photo Credit: Kamikaze (http://indmix.com)
