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Barack Obama
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"We won't have a law called No Child Left Behind that leaves the money behind. We're going to change how that law works so that teachers don't just have to teach to a standardized test, because we want our students learning art, and music, and literature, and foreign languages and all the things that make an education worthwhile."
"I've had a lot of discussions with teachers. And they feel betrayed and frustrated by No Child Left Behind. We shouldn't reauthorize it without changing it fundamentally. We left the money behind for No Child Left Behind, and so there are school districts all across the state and all across the country that are having a difficult time implementing No Child Left Behind."
2007 Democratic primary debate on "This Week" Aug 19, 2007
"Don't come up with this law called No Child Left Behind and then leave the money behind. Don't tell us that you will put high-quality teachers in every class room and then leave the support and pay for those teachers behind. Don't label a school as failing one day and then throw your hands up and walk away from it the next."
"It may not be popular to say in Democratic circles, but there were good elements to this bill -- its emphasis on the achievement gap, raising standards and accountability," Obama said then. "Yes, it's a moral outrage that this administration hasn't come through with the funding. . . . But to wage war against the entire law for that reason is not an education policy, and Democrats need to realize that."
"So I still believe in affirmative action as a means of overcoming both historic and potentially current discrimination, but I think that it can't be a quota system and it can't be something that is simply applied without looking at the whole person, whether that person is black, or white, or Hispanic, male or female."
"I'm a firm believer in affirmative action.. there is a strong and ongoing intersection between race and class in this country — that racism is still an issue that has to battled. Affirmative action is an important tool, although a limited tool, for us to deal with these issues. I say limited simply because a large portion of our young people right now never even benefit from affirmative action because they're not graduating from high school. And unless we do a better job with early childhood education, fixing crumbling schools, investing to make sure that we've got an excellent teacher in front of every classroom, and then making college affordable, we're not even going to reach the point where our children can benefit from affirmative action. "
"My daughters should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged and there is nothing wrong with us taking that into account as we consider admission policies in universities. I think that we should take into account white kids who are disadvantaged and who have grown up in poverty and have shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed."
Barack Obama's [take is that] affirmative action should be less race based and more class based.
Money does matter in education. But there is no denying that the way many public schools are managed poses at least as big a problem as how well they're funded. Our task is to identify those reforms that have the highest impact on achievement, fund them, and eliminate those programs that don't produce results.
The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.161-163 Oct 1, 2006
"It is going to be necessary for the federal government, under an Obama administration, to come up with a capital program to rebuild schools all across the country. States are going to have to step up because right now too many states are neglecting rural areas because they don’t have as much political clout."
Voted YES on $52M for "21st century community learning centers". Voted YES to increase appropriations for after-school programs through 21st century community learning centers. Voting YES would increase funding by $51.9 million for after school programs run by the 21st century community learning centers and would decrease funding by $51.9 million for salaries and expenses in the Department of Labor.
Amendment to Agencies Appropriations Act; Bill S Amdt 2287 to HR 3010 ; vote number 2005-279 on Oct 27, 2005
Voted YES on $5B for grants to local educational agencies. Voted YES to provide an additional $5 billion for title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Voting YES would provide, 1.$2.5 billion for targeting grants to local educational agencies. 2. $2.5 billion for education finance incentive grants.
Elementary and Secondary Education Amendment; Bill S Amdt 2275 to HR 3010 ; vote number 2005-269 on Oct 26, 2005
He [Obama] promised, "as president, I'll double the funding for responsible charter schools." Mr. Obama emphasized the phrase, "responsible charter schools" in his Ohio speech to underscore the fact that unregulated, fly-by-night charter schools in states like Arizona have failed and closed, leaving children and parents in the lurch. He wants to fuel a thousand points of light, but then ensure that public funds aid the bright beacons that actually boost student achievement.
Barack Obama favors charter schools where independent groups receive state authorization and funding to establish new schools.
1998 IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998
"We also know that some of the best ideas in education don't come from Washington, but from local schools all over America. That's why charter schools are a great way for us to learn from experiments in Topeka and Springfield that schools in Chicago and L.A. can replicate in their own classrooms."
Barack Obama is for charter schools,which he feels support change and progress.
"I will not allow my predispositions to stand in the way of making sure that our kids can learn," Mr. Obama, who has previously said he opposes vouchers, said in a meeting with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "We're losing several generations of kids, and something has to be done." Education analysts said Mr. Obama's statement is the closest they have ever seen a Democratic presidential candidate come to embracing the idea of vouchers. Vouchers are taxpayer-funded scholarships that allow families to opt out of public school and use their government-allotted education dollars to attend a private school instead.
Barack Obama is against vouchers, reasoning that they take resources away from public schools.
"I think that the ultimate result of initiating a voucher program ends up being to, over time, not foster competition, but, in fact, to reduce the options available particularly for the hardest to reach kids because a private market system will not ultimately try to reach the toughest to teach kids."
Don't tell us that the only way to teach a child is to spend too much of the year preparing him to fill out bubbles in a standardized test. [Teachers] didn't devote [their] lives to testing [they] devoted it to teaching and that is what [they] should be allowed to do.
"Teachers are extraordinarily frustrated about how their performance is assessed. And not just their own performance, but the school's performance generally. So they're teaching to the tests all the time."
2007 Democratic primary debate on "This Week" Aug 19, 2007
"We've got to make sure that teachers are going to the schools that need them the most. We're going to lose a million teachers over the next decade because the baby-boom generation is retiring. And so it's absolutely critical for us to give them the incentives and the tools and the training that they need not only to become excellent teachers but to become excellent teachers where they're most needed."
2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University Jun 28, 2007
Obama co-sponsored legislation to create a National Teaching Academy of Chicago that recruits, prepares and develops quality teachers for high-need urban school districts. He co-sponsored legislation that created the Future Teacher Corps Scholarships to provide financial aid for undergraduate & graduate students studying to become teachers. He was chief sponsor of a bill creating the Certified Teacher Retention Bonus Program that provides grants to reward high quality teachers in low performing schools.
Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.org, "On the Issues" Sep 28, 2004
"I believe that we should set up a system of performance pay for teachers, negotiated with teachers, work with the teachers to figure out the assessments so they feel they are being judged fairly, that it's not at the whim of the principle, that it's not based on a single high stakes standardized test."
Obama supports the idea of linkage when teachers help negotiate and craft the merit-pay plans, a nod to the national teachers' union, which dislikes the linkage.
"If you excel at helping your students achieve success, your success will be valued and rewarded as well."
"On how he would establish merit based pay: He pledged to work with the NEA and teachers' unions to determine a new system for accountability. "What I want to do is work with teachers, and where we can work with teachers to come up with ways to set those kinds of professional standards, then I want to be part of that process," Obama said. "But I'm not going to do it to you; I'm going to do it with you." [He supports the use of merit based pay but not basing it on the standardized tests used to measure performance in No Child Left Behind.]"
"I think we can implement a performance-based system. It has to be developed with teachers."
"And I won't just talk about how great teachers are, I will reward them for their greatness by giving them higher salaries and giving them more support."
"Teachers across the board have to be paid more."
"As president, I will launch a campaign to recruit and support hundreds of thousands of new teachers across the country--because the most important part of any education is the person standing in front of the classroom. It's time to treat teaching like the profession that it is. It's time to pay our teachers what they deserve. Pay them more money."
Take Back America 2007 Conference Jun 19, 2007
There is no reason why an experienced, highly qualified teacher shouldn't earn $100,000. In exchange for more money, teachers need to become more accountable for their performances, and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers.
The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.161-163 Oct 1, 2006
"I’m a Christian, and I believe in parents being able to provide children with religious instruction without interference from the state. But I also believe our schools are there to teach worldly knowledge and science. I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science. It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry."
"After Republican debate Anderson Cooper, James Carville (CNN political analyst), and Ralph Reed (Republican strategist) discuss the debate and the Democratic candidate's position on evolution: Carville: Every Democratic candidate believes in evolution obviously, every Democratic candidate believes in evolution. Every Democratic candidate thinks it ought to be taught in schools"
"But a sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation - context matters. It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase "under God." I certainly didn't. Having voluntary student prayer groups using school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should threaten Democrats."
According to Obama's campaign, [his national] service plan will include: Expanding AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots and doubling the size of the Peace Corps; integrating service-learning programs into schools and universities; providing new service opportunities for working Americans and retirees; expanding service initiatives that "engage disadvantaged young people and advance their education"; and expanding the capacity of nonprofit groups to innovate and expand successful programs across the country.
The Illinois Senator proposes a national-service program that would engage disadvantaged youth in energy-efficiency and environmental work in their communities so that they could gain practical skills.
"I think you do have that debt not just to give an obligation to people who are less fortunate, although I do think you have an obligation but it's actually because I think you have an obligation to yourself. You know, the people I know who are satisfied in their lives, who feel good have somehow hitched their life up to something larger than themselves, that's how they fulfill their potential."
Obama suggested a year or two of mandatory national service be tied to loan forgiveness.
"It's really important that we revamp our college loan programs to free up more money for students. The direct loan program works extremely well--there doesn't appear to be a need for these student loan programs to be managed through banks and other private lenders. If we consolidate programs under the Direct Loan program, we would save $4.5 billion."
In His Own Words, edited by Lisa Rogak, p. 37 Mar 27, 2007
The first bill Obama introduced in the Senate was to help make college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell Grant from $4,050 to $5,100. As president, Obama would eliminate wasteful subsidies to private student lenders, which will save nearly $6 billion dollars per year, and invest the savings in additional student aid.
Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007
Mr. Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due. Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application. Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
Combined with education proposals he announced last year, Obama plans to expand federal aid to education by $19 billion per year. The bulk of Obama's proposed funding increases target making preschool education more affordable, providing better pay for high-performing teachers and improving math and science teaching.
Obama supports increasing funding for the Head Start program for preschool children. Obama has called on states to replicate the Illinois model of Preschool for All.
Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007
Obama will launch a Children's First Agenda that provides care, learning and support to families with children from birth up to five years old.
Mr. Obama also amplified his pitch to expand preschools that include working with parents to improve early literacy practices. This builds from research on the successful Chicago Parent-Child Centers. He said that he would rely heavily on churches and other community groups to run new preschools in order to avoid sluggish school bureaucracies.