W.H. plan to remake education law By: Nia-Malika Henderson March 13, 2010 09:20 PM EDT
President Barack Obama unveiled his plan for a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s school system Saturday, proposing changes he says would shift emphasis from teaching to the test to a more nuanced assessment of judging school and student progress.
On Monday, Obama will submit his blueprint for reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind law to Congress, and he’s given lawmakers a powerful incentive to take up the bill this year—his budget proposal includes a $1 billion bonus should new legislation land on his desk this year.
Obama’s proposal would toss out the core of the Bush-era law, which calls for across-the-board proficiency from all students in reading and math by 2014, and instead emphasize revamped assessment tools that link teacher evaluations to student progress, and a goal of having students career and college ready upon graduation.
Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, have called the 2014 goal unreasonable, and have said that it led to watered-down standards. Instead, his blueprint calls for a new goal of career and college readiness for all graduating high school students by 2020.
The administration also backs the expansion of charter schools and has added a competitive edge to federal grants rather than funding by formula—much of the $3 billion increase in education in Obama’s budget proposal is based on grants that go to schools that demonstrate progress and success.
The blueprint is “not only a plan to renovate a flawed law, but also an outline for a re-envisioned federal role in education,” Obama writes in the introduction to the 45-page document released Saturday evening.
Under the proposed guidelines, the nation’s 100,000 schools would be divided into categories, based on how well their students are performing based on annual tests. Low-performing schools would require state intervention, and could face a complete shutdown.
“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 in his weekly radio and internet address. “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.”
Under Obama’s plan, schools would have more leeway to test students on a broader range of subjects and the law would seek to “paint a fuller picture” of a school’s needs by looking at attendance, school climate, and course completion. In Congressional testimony on March 3, Duncan said the new approach was not an attempt to “micromanage 100,000 schools from Washington.” .............>>>>.................>>>>................http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34368.html
On Monday, Obama will submit his blueprint for reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind law to Congress, and he’s given lawmakers a powerful incentive to take up the bill this year—his budget proposal includes a $1 billion bonus should new legislation land on his desk this year.
Can someone explain this $1B Bonus?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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