Obama promise: Brighter education futures for kids

Mar 13, 2010 — USA Today

WASHINGTON (AP) President Obama is promising parents and their kids that with his administration's help they will have better teachers in improved schools so U.S. students can make up for academic ground lost against youngsters in other countries.

A proposed overhaul of the education law championed by President George W. Bush will put the impetus for change on states, school districts and schools, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. "We set a high bar, but we also provide educators the flexibility to reach it," he said.

At issue is the rewrite he intends to send Congress on Monday of the No Child Left Behind law that Bush signed in 2002. That law focused on accountability in the classroom, but has fallen short of its original goals.

The announcement's timing suggests Obama is looking beyond the health care debate in Congress, which caused him to delay a trip to Asia next week and threatens his party's electoral prospects in November.

Education is a kitchen-table issue certain to resonate with voters as Republicans seek to retake control of Congress in the fall vote.

"Schools that achieve excellence or show real progress will be rewarded, and local districts will be encouraged to commit to change in schools that are clearly letting their students down," Obama said.

"For the majority of schools that fall in between — schools that do well but could do better — we will encourage continuous improvement to help keep our young people on track for a bright future, prepared for the jobs of the 21st century."

Although Obama's address was short on specifics, the president has made clear he wants big changes. He has used federal money as leverage to push schools to raise standards and prepare more children for college or work.

He included $3.5 billion in last year's economic stimulus bill to help low-performing schools and has proposed $900 million for states and school districts that agree to drastically change or even shutter their worst-performing schools.

The administration also proposed setting aside $50 million for dropout prevention programs, including personalized and individual instruction and support to keep students engaged in learning, and using data to identify students at risk of failure and help them with the transition to high school and college.

Only about 70% of entering high school freshmen go on to graduate. The problem affects blacks and Latinos at particularly high rates.

Obama sought to assuage critics of the law who complain the current design is heavy-handed and too reliant on Washington. He said states and local schools — not Washington — would lead the way to change No Child Left Behind.

"What this plan recognizes is that while the federal government can play a leading role in encouraging the reforms and high standards we need, the impetus for that change will come from states and from local schools and school districts," Obama said.

That rhetoric is popular in local districts, where parents like their children's teachers but remain dubious of Washington.