Obama evokes feelings of nationalism in discussing the need to finish high school and receive higher education as he states, "And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country."
To watch Obama speak on this and education more generally, go to 30:30 in the video and watch through 36:20
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Where is the Reform?
Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has declared that we should rebrand No Child Left Behind. The idea is important because it disassociates education reform from the Bush Administration and No Child Left Behind, which received lots of negative attention.
But where is the reform? It seems that the federal government is creating reform in the idea that the states must reform in order to receive the money. An editorial from The New York Times states:
"The stimulus package, including a $54 billion “stabilization” fund to protect schools against layoffs and budget cuts, is rightly framed to encourage compliance. States will need to create data collection systems that should ideally show how children perform year to year as well as how teachers affect student performance over time. States will also be required to improve academic standards as well as the notoriously weak tests now used to measure achievement — replacing, for instance, the pervasive fill-in-the-bubble tests with advanced assessments that better measure writing and thinking."
But how will we improve academic standards and the measurement of achievement? As many states' budgets suffer from the recession, it seems that the improvemtn of our schools is left in the hands of the states.
Full NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/opinion/22sun2.html
But where is the reform? It seems that the federal government is creating reform in the idea that the states must reform in order to receive the money. An editorial from The New York Times states:
"The stimulus package, including a $54 billion “stabilization” fund to protect schools against layoffs and budget cuts, is rightly framed to encourage compliance. States will need to create data collection systems that should ideally show how children perform year to year as well as how teachers affect student performance over time. States will also be required to improve academic standards as well as the notoriously weak tests now used to measure achievement — replacing, for instance, the pervasive fill-in-the-bubble tests with advanced assessments that better measure writing and thinking."
But how will we improve academic standards and the measurement of achievement? As many states' budgets suffer from the recession, it seems that the improvemtn of our schools is left in the hands of the states.
Full NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/opinion/22sun2.html
Friday, February 13, 2009
What the Stimulus Plan Will Do for Education
The economic stimulus plan that is to pass in Congress today will do the following for education:
"$47 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts in state aid to school districts, with great flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair; $25 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind law for students in K-12; $17 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $500 to $5,350; $2 billion for Head Start."
from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29160311/
"$47 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts in state aid to school districts, with great flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair; $25 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind law for students in K-12; $17 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $500 to $5,350; $2 billion for Head Start."
from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29160311/
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Economic Stimulus Plan and Education
The economic stimulus plan that is going through Congress right now has a significant amount of money to help states pay for their schools. The House of Representatives passed a $819 billion version of the bill last week, but the bill is still in the Senate.
Many negotiations have been taking place in the Senate to reduce the total amount of spending. It seems that most of the money being considered to eliminate is for education.
An excerpt from the CNN article titled: "Republican Senator on stimulus: We're close"
"Democrats wrestled over billions of dollars in potential cuts to education spending Friday as senators searched for a compromise to pass what is now a $900 billion economic recovery plan.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and other Republicans in an early morning meeting told CNN Radio that they've handed over a list of potential cuts to Democratic leaders and are waiting for a response.
'The ball's really in their court,' Collins said. A few hours later, Collins walked out of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office smiling and told reporters, 'We're close.'
The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, confirmed Democrats are in a tough debate over cutting what they see as core programs. He singled out education as one of the largest areas of potential cuts -- and one of the hardest for Democrats to swallow.
'It's a painful area for all of us, as Democrats, to make these cuts in education assistance,' he said.
There are 'substantial' proposed cuts to a $79 billion fund created to help states deal with the economic crisis by giving them more money for schools, Durbin said."
The link to the complete article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/06/stimulus/index.html
It seems that if this version of the economic stimulus plan is passed in the Senate, the schools may be left behind. It understandable that school funding is generally the state's territory, but as states make budget cuts this year, will there really be any money left for the schools? Let's hope the Democrats can pass the bill without too much lost in education funding.
Many negotiations have been taking place in the Senate to reduce the total amount of spending. It seems that most of the money being considered to eliminate is for education.
An excerpt from the CNN article titled: "Republican Senator on stimulus: We're close"
"Democrats wrestled over billions of dollars in potential cuts to education spending Friday as senators searched for a compromise to pass what is now a $900 billion economic recovery plan.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and other Republicans in an early morning meeting told CNN Radio that they've handed over a list of potential cuts to Democratic leaders and are waiting for a response.
'The ball's really in their court,' Collins said. A few hours later, Collins walked out of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office smiling and told reporters, 'We're close.'
The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, confirmed Democrats are in a tough debate over cutting what they see as core programs. He singled out education as one of the largest areas of potential cuts -- and one of the hardest for Democrats to swallow.
'It's a painful area for all of us, as Democrats, to make these cuts in education assistance,' he said.
There are 'substantial' proposed cuts to a $79 billion fund created to help states deal with the economic crisis by giving them more money for schools, Durbin said."
The link to the complete article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/06/stimulus/index.html
It seems that if this version of the economic stimulus plan is passed in the Senate, the schools may be left behind. It understandable that school funding is generally the state's territory, but as states make budget cuts this year, will there really be any money left for the schools? Let's hope the Democrats can pass the bill without too much lost in education funding.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Background
Public education in the United States is primarily the responsibility of the states. We all notice this through the successes and problems in different state education systems and how state budgets greatly effect public education. The federal government has normally only contributed to public education with monetary funds for programs such as Head Start (a preschool program) and the school lunch program (where underprivileged kids receive free lunch).
In order to expand academic standards nationwide, the Bush administration expanded the federal government’s role in public education through the creation of the legislation of No Child Left Behind. The purpose of No Child Left Behind was to make schools more accountable for their students’ success. This failed piece of legislation does make schools accountable, but only through test scores. The result of this is that teachers must spend time teaching to the test in order to avoid the school losing funding or being taken over by the government.
The Obama administration states in their agenda that they will “restore the promise of America’s public education” through action such as reforming No Child Left Behind. We’ll see what happens.
In order to expand academic standards nationwide, the Bush administration expanded the federal government’s role in public education through the creation of the legislation of No Child Left Behind. The purpose of No Child Left Behind was to make schools more accountable for their students’ success. This failed piece of legislation does make schools accountable, but only through test scores. The result of this is that teachers must spend time teaching to the test in order to avoid the school losing funding or being taken over by the government.
The Obama administration states in their agenda that they will “restore the promise of America’s public education” through action such as reforming No Child Left Behind. We’ll see what happens.
Introduction
Hi! My name is Rachel Kaplan and I’m a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles. This blog is meant to be about the public education policy of the federal government.
I have always been really interested in education and I have formed my liberal views through being a student in both the public and private education systems as well as through working with students in underprivileged neighborhoods, which helped me to see the differences in our educations. Working in a third grade classroom in Marin City, where the students were not up to grade level, I realized that if teachers are forced to teach to the test to keep their funding, then these students do not get the help they really need and school is no longer really about true education.
I will be following the current public education policy as we see together what the Obama administration and the new Congress will do.
I have always been really interested in education and I have formed my liberal views through being a student in both the public and private education systems as well as through working with students in underprivileged neighborhoods, which helped me to see the differences in our educations. Working in a third grade classroom in Marin City, where the students were not up to grade level, I realized that if teachers are forced to teach to the test to keep their funding, then these students do not get the help they really need and school is no longer really about true education.
I will be following the current public education policy as we see together what the Obama administration and the new Congress will do.
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