Maker's Mark Challenge: Obama's Education Plan

Here it is. My comments in parenthesis.

A World class education

“I don't want to send another generation of American children to failing schools. I don't want that future for my daughters. I don't want that future for your sons. I do not want that future for America.”
— Barack Obama, Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, Des Moines, Iowa, November 10, 2007

The Problem

No Child Left Behind Left the Money Behind: The goal of the law was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support. As a result, the law has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to adequately support and pay those teachers.

(It's always about money with Democrats, never about accountability. We spend over $11K per student in the US, tied with Switzerland as #1 in the world but yet our children lag way behind such economic powerhouses as Croatia, Hungary, and Thailand in test scores, despite the fact that they spend 1/3 what we do. It's not about money.)

Students Left Behind: Six million middle and high school students read significantly below their grade level. A full third of high school graduates do not immediately go on to college. American 15 year olds rank 28th out of 40 countries in mathematics and 19th out of 40 countries in science. Almost 30 percent of students in their first year of college are forced to take remedial science and math classes because they are not prepared.

(Students Left Behind....yeah, Left Behind by the teachers unions and bad public schools......)

High Dropout Rate: America has one of the highest dropout rates in the industrialized world. Only 70 percent of U.S. high school students graduate with a diploma. African American and Latino students are significantly less likely to graduate than white students.

(That's a real problem, granted.)

Teacher Retention is a Problem: Thirty percent of new teachers leave within their first five years in the profession.

(They are not empowered enough.)

Soaring College Costs: College costs have grown nearly 40 percent in the past five years. The average graduate leaves college with over $19,000 in debt. And between 2001 and 2010, 2 million academically qualified students will not go to college because they cannot afford it. Finally, our complicated maze of tax credits and applications leaves too many students unaware of financial aid available to them.

(College costs are soaring just like health care costs are soaring becuase the federal government subsidizes everything....there are no incentives to lower costs.... Why should they? The US government will subsidize them.)

Barack Obama's Plan

Early Childhood Education

Zero to Five Plan: Obama's comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. Unlike other early childhood education plans, Obama's plan places key emphasis at early care and education for infants, which is essential for children to be ready to enter kindergarten. Obama will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.

('Voluntary, universal pre-school?? Great!!! Hugely expensive AND utterly inneficient!!! Why should we start a whole new education entitlement program when we've demonstrated such an AWESOME ability to run the schools we already have????)

Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for both.

(More huge spending.....)

Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Obama will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working families.

(Good, even more huge spending....)

K-12

Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama will reform NCLB, which starts by funding the law. Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. Obama will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.

(Zzzzzzzz........)

Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. He will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.

(More science and math is a good thing.)

Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama will address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school - strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.

(Zzzzzzz.......)

Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children.

(Holy freakin' cow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will the spending ever stop??!!! Now we need AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS???????!!!!!! How about OVER NIGHT PROGRAM????)

Expand Summer Learning Opportunities: Obama's "STEP UP" plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community organizations.

(Great. Year round school. We do school great! Let's make it year round!!! If we can spend millions of more money too, even better!!!!)

Support College Outreach Programs: Obama supports outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.

(Way, way, way too many people go to college. What a farce. It's all dumbed down so bad now.....)

Support English Language Learners: Obama supports transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.

(Zzzzzz......)

Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's Teachers

Recruit Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.

(So much money........so little real reform....... Can I kill myself now???)

Prepare Teachers: Obama will require all schools of education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.

(Zzzzzzzz.....)

Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, Obama's plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. He will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.

(This is retarded, I'm sorry....)

Reward Teachers: Obama will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

(Sure. Not a bad idea.)

Higher Education

Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: 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, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. 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.

(Lord, have mercy..... The budget busting will never end.... Nothing is "free". Ever. College costs will explode even further....)

Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: 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.

(Sure. Make things easier. Sure)

Barack Obama's Record

Record of Advocacy: Obama has been a leader on educational issues throughout his career. In the Illinois State Senate, Obama was a leader on early childhood education, helping create the state's Early Learning Council. In the U.S. Senate, Obama has been a leader in working to make college more affordable. His very first bill sought to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,100. As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Obama helped pass legislation to achieve that goal in the recent improvements to the Higher Education Act. Obama has also introduced legislation to create Teacher Residency Programs and to increase federal support for summer learning opportunities.

In a nutshell, A HELL OF A LOT OF NEW SPENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No real reform. None, really. Where is the accountability??? Where, oh where, is school choice????? Where is the promise of tuition stipends for low-income families so their children can attend parochial schools???? My head spins from the explosive costs here. It really does. If all of this is put in place, holy macherel, we're screwed....... Don't you see this "plan" as nothing but HUGE, UNBELIEVABLE SPENDING???!!! Where is the real reform???? I really expected something better before I looked at it. I am aghast at how bad it is.

This plan rates on F.