Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Only 34 percent of Americans give President Obama an A, or even a B, for his support of public schools, says an Aug. 25 Christian Science Monitor story reporting on a public opinion survey on education. That 34 percent has dropped from 45 percent a year ago, despite administration spending of more than $100 billion on k-12 education. Proof, as history shows, that money for education isn’t what makes kids smart. The opinion survey was conducted by Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) and Gallup. Support was “slim” for the “drastic school turnaround strategies” favored by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. They involve closing 5,000 schools and firing teaching staffs that don’t perform. Duncan has called on the NAACP for leadership in the program.

ma has proposed some logical changes in the nation’s education system, from lifting limits on charter schools, to improving early childhood learning to merit pay for teachers, The New York Times reported. But having secured tens of billions of dollars in additional financing for education in his stimulus package and made clear “his aim to seek more in his budget,” he outlined how he would use federal money and programs to influence education at the state and local levels. “Influence” can well mean money with restrictive strings attached. Full Piece