On November 4th American citizens elected a new President. What does this mean to education? Below is a summary of the new President-Elect’s plan for education. This information was summarized from barackobama.com, Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s official website.
Early Childhood Education:
• Zero to Five Plan – create grants to fund voluntary, universal pre-school.
• Expand Early Head Start and Head Start – increase funding for Head Start and increase Early Head Start by four times.
• Affordable, High-Quality Child Care – make childcare affordable.
K-12:
• Reform No Child Left Behind – put funding towards No Child Left Behind. Obama also wants to improve assessment, college readiness and help support schools that need improvement.
• Support High-Quality School and Close Low-Performing Charter Schools - funding for charter schools will be given to states that improve accountability and have a process in order for closing under-performing schools.
• Make Math and Science Education a National Priority – recruiting efforts to get math and science graduates into the education field. Have a stronger science curriculum.
• Address the Dropout Crisis – provide funding to school districts for middle school intervention.
• Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities – double the funding for these programs.
• Support College Outreach Programs – support these programs and encourage low-income families to participate.
• Support College Credit Initiatives – increase 50% of students lacking AP or College level classes by 2016.
• Support English Language Learners – Hold schools accountable for graduating limited English students.
Recruit, Prepare, Retain and Reward America’s Teachers:
• Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit – refundable credit of the first $4,000 spent in the college of education. There is also a requirement of 100 hours of community service.
• Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid – eliminate financial aid forms and instead have box to check on tax forms.
Please feel free to comment or answer any of the questions below:
What do you think of these plans?
Do you think what is listed above is enough for education?
If you had 10 minutes to spend with President-Elect Barack Obama what would you discuss?
Upcoming Texas ASCD Events:
November 2008
November 18th & 19th, 2008
Maximizing Student Success (in collaboration with ASCD International)
Tim Westerberg
Frisco ISD
December 2008
December 1st, 2008
Jumping Hurdles and Raising the Bar Toward Achieving Excellence in Science
(for Elementary School teachers - Grades 2-5)
Gloria Chatelain and Courtney Williams
Mansfield ISD
May 2009
May 7th & 8th, 2008
Maximizing Student Success (in collaboration with ASCD International)
Tim Westerberg
Keller ISD
August 2009
August 13th & 14th, 2008
Maximizing Student Success (in collaboration with ASCD International)
Tim Westerberg
Sheldon ISD (Houston area)
Rescheduled from a Previous date
