Weekly Address: Obama wants to overhaul No Child Left Behind (TRANSCRIPT and VIDEO)

[jefferson_dem]

Obama wants to overhaul No Child Left Behind
By Lynn Sweeton March 13, 2010 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama to Send Updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act Blueprint To Congress on Monday

WASHINGTON - In his weekly address, President Barack Obama announced that on Monday, his administration will send to Congress the blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will overhaul No Child Left Behind. The plan will set the ambitious goal of ensuring that all students graduate from high school prepared for college and a career, and it will provide states, districts and schools with the flexibility and resources to reach that goal.

The audio and video will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, March 13, 2010.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Weekly Address
March 13, 2010

Lost in the news of the week was a headline that ought to be a source of concern for every American. It said, "Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education." Now, debates in Washington tend to be consumed with the politics of the moment: who's up in the daily polls; whose party stands to gain in November. But what matters to you - what matters to our country - is not what happens in the next election, but what we do to lift up the next generation. And the fact is, there are few issues that speak more directly to our long term success as a nation than issues concerning the education we provide to our children.

Our prosperity in the 20th century was fueled by an education system that helped grow the middle class and unleash the talents of our people more fully and widely than at any time in our history. We built schools and focused on the teaching of math and science. We helped a generation of veterans go to college through the GI Bill. We led the globe in producing college graduates, and in turn we led in producing ground-breaking technologies and scientific discoveries that lifted living standards and set us apart as the world's engine of innovation.

Of course, other nations recognize this, and are looking to gain an edge in the global marketplace by investing in better schools, supporting teachers, and committing to clear standards that will produce graduates with more skills. Our competitors understand that the nation that out-educates us today will out-compete us tomorrow. Yet, too often we have failed to make inroads in reforming and strengthening our public education system - the debate mired in worn arguments hurled across entrenched divides.

As a result, over the last few decades, we've lost ground. One assessment shows American fifteen year olds no longer even near the top in math and science when compared to their peers around the world. As referenced in the news report I mentioned, we've now fallen behind most wealthy countries in our high school graduation rates. And while we once led the world in the proportion of college graduates we produced, today we no longer do.

Not only does that risk our leadership as a nation, it consigns millions of Americans to a lesser future. For we know that the level of education a person attains is increasingly a prerequisite for success and a predictor of the income that person will earn throughout his or her life. Beyond the economic statistics is a less tangible but no less painful reality: unless we take action - unless we step up - there are countless children who will never realize their full talent and potential.

I don't accept that future for them. And I don't accept that future for the United States of America. That's why we're engaged in a historic effort to redeem and improve our public schools: to raise the expectations for our students and for ourselves, to recognize and reward excellence, to improve performance in troubled schools, and to give our kids and our country the best chance to succeed in a changing world.

Under the leadership of an outstanding Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, we launched a Race to the Top, through which states compete for funding by committing to reform and raising standards, by rewarding good teaching, by supporting the development of better assessments to measure results, and by emphasizing math and science to help prepare children for college and careers.

And on Monday, my administration will send to Congress our blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul 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. So, yes, we set a high bar - but we also provide educators the flexibility to reach it.

Under these guidelines, 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. 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. And because the most important factor in a child's success is the person standing at the front of the classroom, we will better prepare teachers, support teachers, and encourage teachers to stay in the field. In short, we'll treat the people who educate our sons and daughters like the professionals they are.

Through this plan we are setting an ambitious goal: all students should graduate from high school prepared for college and a career - no matter who you are or where you come from. Achieving this goal will be difficult. It will take time. And it will require the skills, talents, and dedication of many: principals, teachers, parents, students. But this effort is essential for our children and for our country. And while there will always be those cynics who claim it can't be done, at our best, we know that America has always risen to the challenges that we've faced. This challenge is no different.

As a nation, we are engaged in many important endeavors: improving the economy, reforming the health care system, encouraging innovation in energy and other growth industries of the 21st century. But our success in these efforts - and our success in the future as a people - will ultimately depend on what happens long before an entrepreneur opens his doors, or a nurse walks the rounds, or a scientist steps into her laboratory. Our future is determined each and every day, when our children enter the classroom, ready to learn and brimming with promise.

It's that promise we must help them fulfill. Thank you.

VIDEO - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/12/weekly-address-education-a-more-competitive-america-better-future

[DrDan]

1. yet another carryover from the previous adminstration - it should be scrapped

it didn't work then and won't work now

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. So glad I read this on an empty stomach

:puke:

[Clio the Leo]

3. Thank you. We have to do something.

And I'm glad to see he's about to move on to something easier to explain and generally more popular. :)

I saw this story about the all-boys charter school in Chicago that was featured a lot on CNN during the President's early months in office. Was glad to see this news....

Congratulations To Englewood Urban Prep’s Class Of 2010!!! Chicago Boys Break Stereotypes By Being Model Students

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! After all the negative news about young black men in Chicago, we are so proud to share this story about an all-male charter high school where the entire class is not just graduating, they’ve also all been admitted to four-year colleges. Pop the hood for A Lil Positivity!

http://bossip.com/225181/congratulations-to-englewood-urban-preps-class-of-2010-chicago-boys-break-stereotypes-by-being-model-students/

Urban Prep's Little Obamas: Live from Capitol Hill

According to CNN's Don Lemmon, the young men of Urban Prep Academy - the first all boys public charter high school in Chicago and the country - are "Little Obamas." Twenty of the school's "Little Obamas" traveled to Washington to witness the inauguration and participate in the People's Inauguration, hosted by The Stafford Foundation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-king/urban-preps-little-obamas_b_159406.html

I know the WH has offered schools a chance to have the President speak at their commencement ceremonies. I hope their's is one of them.

[Dinger]

4. Blah Blah Blah

Same ol' same ol'.

[alp227]

5. NY Times says that Obama wants to drop the more troublesome parts

According to Obama Calls for Sweeping Overhaul in Education Law: here are some of the Obama admin's proposals:
- Measuring each students academic growth individually as opposed to the # of students as a group
- Judging schools based on closing the achiveement gaps.
- Schools would be grouped in several categories based on tests etc.: "some 10,000 to 15,000 high-performing schools that could receive rewards or recognition, some 10,000 failing or struggling schools requiring varying degrees of vigorous state intervention, about 5,000 schools that would be required to narrow unacceptably wide achievement gaps, and perhaps 70,000 or so schools in the middle that would be encouraged to figure out on their own how to improve."
- "The administration’s proposals also would rework the law’s teacher quality provisions by requiring states to develop evaluation procedures to distinguish effective instructors, partly based on whether their students are learning. These would replace the law’s current emphasis on certifying that all teachers have valid credentials, which has produced little except red tape, officials said."
- "The current law required states to adopt “challenging academic standards” to receive federal money for poor students under a section known as Title I. But states were allowed to define “challenging,” and many set standards at mediocre levels. Last month, President Obama proposed requiring states to adopt “college- and career-ready standards” to qualify for the $14 billion Title I program. The administration proposes that new federal education dollars be provided to states as competitive grants, rather than through per-pupil formulas."
- States can rate schools based on tests in other subjects than math and reading. Uhh, I cringe a bit when I hear the feds wanting states to evaluate schools based on standardised testing.
- "The blueprint proposes eliminating a current requirement, popular among Republicans, that schools failing to meet testing benchmarks for two years in a row provide bussing to other schools for students wishing to transfer. Few parents have transferred their students under this provision, partly because of preferences for neighborhood schools, but also because school districts did little to advertise this opportunity. The administration would also eliminate a requirement that schools missing benchmarks for three years provide free after-school tutoring."

Do you find anything bad about these?

[Telly Savalas]

6. It doesn't matter what the content of the bill is.

People that worship Obama will think it's the gospel.

People that hate Obama will think it's the work of Satan.

The Senate will fart around for the next few years and it will never pass.