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February 22, 2010 - President Obama outlined new steps to better prepare America’s children for college and the
workplace during his meeting with U.S. governors this week.
The President is calling for a redesigned Elementary and Secondary Education Act that includes a comprehensive, new vision
to help states successfully transition to and implement college- and career-ready standards by improving teacher preparation
and development, upgrading classroom instruction, and supporting high-quality assessments.
“America’s
prosperity has always rested on how well we educate our children – but never more so than today,” said President
Barack Obama. “This is true for our workers, when a college graduate earns over 60 percent more in a lifetime than a
high school graduate. This is true for our businesses, when according to one study; six in ten say they simply can’t
find qualified people to fill open positions.”
Points of the proposal include:
- Requiring all states to adopt and certify that they have college and career-ready standards in reading and mathematics,
which may include common standards developed by a state-led consortium, as a condition of qualifying for Title I funding.
- Including new funding priorities for states with college- and career-ready standards in place, as they compete for federal
funds to improve teaching and learning and upgrade curriculum in reading and math. This priority applies to the President’s
FY2011 budget request for new Effective Teaching and Learning programs in literacy ($450 million) and STEM ($300 million).
- Encouraging states, schools districts, and other institutions to better align teacher preparation practices and programs
to teaching of college and career-ready standards. This priority supports the President’s FY2011 budget request
for a new Teacher and Leaders Pathways program ($405 million).
- Assisting states in implementing assessments aligned with college- and career-ready standards, under a new Assessing Achievement
program. The President’s FY2011 budget supports $400 million in state grants under this program.
- Supporting the expansion of the Race to the Top, beyond funding in the Recovery Act, to dedicate $1.35 billion in awards
to states and school districts that have college- and career-ready standards in place as a condition of funding.
- Supporting professional development for teachers, leaders and other school instructional staff to better align instruction
to college and career-ready standards. This supports the President’s FY2011 budget request for the Effective Teacher
and Leaders state grant program ($2.5 billion).
More information is available here.
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