Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDear Mr. President: Please junk Race to the Top
President Obama should junk the Race to the Top plan immediately. It is a deeply flawed reworking of George W. Bushs test-based, pro-charter school No Child Left Behind Act. Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan should change course dramatically and publicly admit Race to the Top doesnt and cant work and then craft a new plan that doesnt treat education like an industry and coerce teachers to teach to the test, while marching toward education privatization.
Obamas website states education is not a top-down, one-size-fits-all issue thats why he has given states the flexibility to create their own ambitious plans for reform. Well, much like CANCER is as deadly in North Carolina as it is in Colorado and Obamas MASSIVELY COURAGEOUS plan to expand healthcare coverage understands this education most certainly is EXACTLY a top-down, one-size-fits-all issue. We need kids in New Mexico to be just as good at reading and writing as kids in Pennsylvania. Education is the mother of all top-down, one-size-fits-all issues. Or maybe its the father, if healthcare is the mother. Point is, we need better, more stringent national standards, because EVERY OTHER COUNTRY above us (and there are a bunch) on the PISA survey done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development every three years does. To give you a glimpse, China is first in reading and the U.S. is 17th. China is also No. 1 in math, and I dont even want to tell you where we are, but be assured: I WISH it was 17th. Further, the poverty that afflicts certain communities and not others necessitates a unified national approach not a punishing and divisive approach to fix things or the good schools get better and the bad ones get worse. Schools arent corporations, though there are those who would change that, and they most certainly do have the presidents ear.
Obama needs to suit up in the same armor he wore to fight to expand healthcare, and ANGER, ALIENATE, and FLUSH OUT the dangerous business people who are seeking to privatize education and funnel money out of the government and into their already bulging pockets. But, since hes one man, and that man happens to be the president, he can move faster than any industry, shock em and knock em dead with an agenda that rhymes with his first terms HEROIC dedication to healthcare expansion. If youve read letters the president wrote when he was in college, you know hes close to a genius and that even in his best speeches today, he dials down and uses about 55 percent of his intellectual prowess so that meatballs like me understand him. So hes set in the head department. I would now urge him to engage his heart on this issue, accept that he does in fact know what U.S. children need to learn and that he does know how to implement it. He neednt defer to those who suggest states need to compete in education. They need to cooperate. With him. So top-down that stuff in a jiffy and fire anyone in the administration who resists and disassociate himself from the lobbyists and the growing for-profit entities who are strangling creativity and collaboration in our nations classrooms.
Obamas website states education is not a top-down, one-size-fits-all issue thats why he has given states the flexibility to create their own ambitious plans for reform. Well, much like CANCER is as deadly in North Carolina as it is in Colorado and Obamas MASSIVELY COURAGEOUS plan to expand healthcare coverage understands this education most certainly is EXACTLY a top-down, one-size-fits-all issue. We need kids in New Mexico to be just as good at reading and writing as kids in Pennsylvania. Education is the mother of all top-down, one-size-fits-all issues. Or maybe its the father, if healthcare is the mother. Point is, we need better, more stringent national standards, because EVERY OTHER COUNTRY above us (and there are a bunch) on the PISA survey done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development every three years does. To give you a glimpse, China is first in reading and the U.S. is 17th. China is also No. 1 in math, and I dont even want to tell you where we are, but be assured: I WISH it was 17th. Further, the poverty that afflicts certain communities and not others necessitates a unified national approach not a punishing and divisive approach to fix things or the good schools get better and the bad ones get worse. Schools arent corporations, though there are those who would change that, and they most certainly do have the presidents ear.
Obama needs to suit up in the same armor he wore to fight to expand healthcare, and ANGER, ALIENATE, and FLUSH OUT the dangerous business people who are seeking to privatize education and funnel money out of the government and into their already bulging pockets. But, since hes one man, and that man happens to be the president, he can move faster than any industry, shock em and knock em dead with an agenda that rhymes with his first terms HEROIC dedication to healthcare expansion. If youve read letters the president wrote when he was in college, you know hes close to a genius and that even in his best speeches today, he dials down and uses about 55 percent of his intellectual prowess so that meatballs like me understand him. So hes set in the head department. I would now urge him to engage his heart on this issue, accept that he does in fact know what U.S. children need to learn and that he does know how to implement it. He neednt defer to those who suggest states need to compete in education. They need to cooperate. With him. So top-down that stuff in a jiffy and fire anyone in the administration who resists and disassociate himself from the lobbyists and the growing for-profit entities who are strangling creativity and collaboration in our nations classrooms.
http://www.salon.com/2012/11/14/dear_mr_president_please_junk_race_to_the_top/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 727 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (7)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Dear Mr. President: Please junk Race to the Top (Original Post)
octoberlib
Nov 2012
OP
Orlandodem
(1,115 posts)1. teachers need to take our schools back!
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)2. k&r
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)3. Proud to be the fifth K&R.
Arne Duncan needs to go. And take his misguided RTTT with him. Please Mr. President, hire a real educator to replace him.