Obama gave a 20-minute speech to a large crowd at Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts in Thornton, Colorado on May 28, 2008. What can we expect if he is elected?
Obama began by praising the students at Mapleton for their impressive improvements pointing out that three years ago only half were college bound. This graduating senior class has 100% of students attending college. He proclaimed Mapleton as a model for the nation.
Pitfalls In Current Educational System
Obama then proceeded to point out the pitfalls of our national educational system.
6 million students read below grade level
Only 20% are prepared to take college classes in English, math and science
Half of teenagers understand basic fractions
Students receive an average of only 25 minutes of science daily
Only one in ten black and Latino 8th graders are proficient in math
Obama stated that these statistics are unacceptable.
No Child Left Behind
NCLB was praised by Obama for its goals.
Making a promise to educate every child with an excellent teacher
Closing the achievement gap that exists in too many cities and rural areas
More accountability
High standards
He then pointed out the fact that many schools have broken these promises. Foreign nations are outeducating us in math and science. High stakes testing is crowding out the fine arts. Obama wants to take the weak areas of NCLB and correct them. Fixing what is wrong with NCLB is just the beginning.
Obama’s Educational Plan
Create a new Service Scholarship program to recruit top talent into the profession and begin by placing these new teachers in struggling districts in math and science.
Create Teacher Residency Programs to train 30,000 highly qualified teachers a year. Recruit more individuals into teaching from other professions.
Expand mentoring by pairing a successful and experienced teacher with a new recruit for the first year.
Reward successful teachers and those that take on extra responsibilities.
$4000 tax credit to cover two-thirds of college tuition at a public university and junior colleges would be completely free. Students would repay this gift with volunteer work or joining the Peace Corps.
Paperwork for financial aid would be as simple as a checking a box on the income tax form. The challenging FAFSA prevents students from going to college.
Expand outreach programs for the black, Latino and poor. Funding for after school programs and expanded summer learning should be doubled.
In Closing
"This is the commitment we must make to our children. This is the chance they must have. And I will never forget that the only reason I’m standing here today is because I was given that same chance. And so was my wife. Each of us should have the chance to achieve the American dream," said Barack Obama in closing.
Source: The Denver Post, May 28, 2008
The copyright of the article Obama On Education in Educational Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish Obama On Education in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
There is no "change" here. We already have Teach for America. We already have in place a recruitment process to allow people from the private sector to teach in their major fields. We already mentor new teachers. We've tried merit pay (rewarding successful teachers) and if failed miserably because of internal school politics. Simplifying the FAFSA paperwork has already passed and will be in place in a year or two--Bush's doing. We already have after school and summer programs--he wants to increase funding for more. Again, nothing new here. Obama is taking advantage of people not paying close attention to what is already going on in education. And, the NEA supports him? Why?
Sep 16, 2008 8:11 AM
Guest
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The poor do deserve an education. They are already getting it. We are working four jobs to send our daughter through college to prevent us going in debt up to our eyeballs. My nephew is going for almost nothing because the family is poor. My sister owes the college nothing, zero, as a single parent for the entire year at a private college and my nephew qualified for a PELL grant, subsidized loans, college grants and work study. It's the middle class that Obama wants to tax more that needs the help.
