TW: Every POTUS speaks of greatly improving education in America, of course he would just like he desires peace, economic growth and less crime. The goals never change- higher achievement, better preparation for the future challenges of society, yada, yada, yada. The goals are easy, the execution piece not so much.
The execution founders mainly because it is hard, but also because the federal government has limited leverage relative to local governments, unions and such. Bush did one thing, No Child Left Behind which I have not heard anyone speak well of recently other than W, not a rousing endorsement from my view. Will Obama actually make a difference on this one, he talks the talk but can he walk the walk.
From Int'l Herald Tribune:
"President Barack Obama called for sweeping changes in the U.S. education system Tuesday, urging teachers, parents and students to embrace merit pay for good teachers, a longer school day and school year and a renewed commitment to learning from grade school through adulthood that would make the United States more competitive.
Obama said it was time to erase the limits on charter schools in some states while at the same time closing those that were not working. Such alternative schools are publicly financed but independently run, and the president appeared eager to free them from some restrictions on growth even while tightening accountability.
..."His administration refers to charter schools as "laboratories of innovation." But teachers' unions - one of the Democratic Party's largest and most loyal constituencies, and part of a labor movement that has strongly supported Obama - oppose the schools, saying they take away funding for public schools.
...In a proposal sure to be greeted warily by teacher unions, he renewed his support for a merit-based system of paying educators. "It means treating teachers like the professionals they are, while also holding them more accountable," Obama said. "New teachers will be mentored by experienced ones. Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools."
...The unions generally resist this approach as opening the door to arbitrary pay differentials or favoritism.
...Obama said too many people in his party have resisted the idea of "rewarding excellence" with extra pay, while too many Republicans have opposed spending money on early education "despite compelling evidence of its importance."
...the recently enacted stimulus package calls for spending some $5 billion on the Early Head Start and Head Start programs, which provide schooling for pre-kindergarten children.
That investment, he said, will be rewarded by lower welfare rolls, fewer health care costs and less crime, as well as better classroom performance..."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/10/america/prexy.php
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