NYT Editorial: The Fight Over Education in Washington

[quiet.american]

NYT Editorial: The Fight Over Education in Washington
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/opinion/31sat2.html?ref=barack_obama

President Obama came out swinging on Thursday, before the National Urban League in Washington. He pledged to protect Race to the Top, even if it meant using the veto pen. He seemed particularly incensed by the baseless claim that Race to the Top had shortchanged minority children.

He said the charge that it “isn’t targeted at those young people most in need is absolutely false because lifting up quality for all our children — black, white, Hispanic — that is the central premise of Race to the Top. And you can’t win one of these grants unless you’ve got a plan to deal with those schools that are failing and those young people who aren’t doing well.”

The president is not planning to apply the competitive grant system to mainstay, formula-financed programs, like Title I, which provides extra help to impoverished children. But he wisely plans to use the competitive approach for modestly financed new programs, like the one that will reward districts for innovative plans aimed at turning around consistently failing schools.

This week’s dust-up came just as the administration announced that 18 states and the District of Columbia had produced reform plans that qualified them for a share of $3.4 billion in grant money from Race to the Top. The winning states will be well positioned to enact reforms. But even those that do not win will benefit from the process of creating road maps to reform.

More at link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/opinion/31sat2.html?ref=barack_obama

[DFLforever]

1. LOL: the NYT calls the NEA 'retrograde"

Best not to post this one in GD.:P ,

I've been neutral in the latest educational wars since my kids have been out of school for decades. But I'm growing more supportive of the President's policies in part because of the poor quality of criticism I read on DU.

[Cha]

2. Ah, DSLForever..

You make an excellent point!

[Number23]

3. lol That is an excellent point and one that I share.

But I'm growing more supportive of the President's policies in part because of the poor quality of criticism I read on DU.

As someone with a dog in this fight (I've got two baby girls, one who's about to start school soon and the other an infant) I am really interested in this debate. I have stayed out of it because this is not an area with which I have alot of expertise but like you, I've seen the quality of the "disagreements" with Obama about this and this has only made me more curious of the President's position.

Fire1 -- who is a public school teacher in an inner city area -- is one of the few people on DU whose opinion on the topic means anything to me. My grandmother was a public school teacher for 38 years and I have so many black, female friends who are school teachers in urban areas it's ridiculous. None of them are the slightest bit incensed about the President's policies, although Fire1 has some very legitimate concerns imo about charter schools.

[quiet.american]

5. Oops, moved reply to the right place. nt

[Number23]

4. Thanks for this, qa. Didn't the Urban League and NAACP change their minds

about challenging Race to the Top?

[quiet.american]

6. Cheers, N23 -- and you called it:

Despite their tough rhetoric earlier this week, civil rights leaders have softened their criticism of the president's education reforms. A "conflict in schedules" led the coalition to cancel a Monday press conference to air their criticism and tout their 17-page framework for reform.

Instead, the leaders met with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House Domestic Policy Director Melody Barnes. Afterward, they released a new statement declaring they are "confident" that, working with the White House, "a plan can be developed that will provide a high-quality education for all students."

On Tuesday the NAACP, National Urban League and National Action Network reaffirmed that discussions with White House officials "continue to yield positive efforts."

Introducing the president before his speech, National Urban League President Marc Morial heaped on more praise: "I am proud to say we at the National Urban League and several civil rights organizations have been working very closely with the Obama administration and Education Secretary Duncan to put together an education reform plan that will guarantee equal access to educational opportunities for every American child."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10210/1076359-473.stm#ixzz0vbM23LiX

[Cha]

7. Brilliant~

"Obama administration and Education Secretary Duncan to put together an education reform plan that will guarantee equal access to educational opportunities for every American child."

[bobburgster]

8. People will bitch at any educational reform.......

I like what he's doing.