11/4/2009 5:46 PM ET
(RTTNews) -
President Barack Obama Wednesday outlined plans to improve the quality of education in America.
Central to Obama's plans is a series of "Race to the Top" grants designed to reward innovative schools and school systems for finding ways of improving student performance.
"We're putting over $4 billion on the table -- $4 billion with a 'b' -- one of the largest investments that the federal government has ever made in education reform," Obama said. "But we're not just handing it out to states because they want it. We're not just handing it out based on population. It's not just going through the usual political formulas."
He added, "We're challenging states to compete for it."
But Obama cautioned that any state that wanted to compete for the grants would have to repeal so called "firewall" laws that bar using student performance for teacher evaluation.
"We're saying to states, if you are committed to real change in the way you educate your children, if you're willing to hold yourselves more accountable, and if you develop a strong plan to improve the quality of education in your state, then we'll offer you a big grant to help you make that plan a reality," he said.
He added, "I'm proud to say that already a number of states have taken us up on this challenge. Across the country, different groups are coming together to bring about change in our schools -- teachers unions and parents groups, businesses and community organizations."
Obama said the first criteria for competing for the grants as setting high standards for student achievement.
"I also challenge states to align their assessments with high standards, because … we should not just raise the bar, we should prepare our kids to meet it," he said. "There's no point in having really high standards but we're not doing what it takes to meet those standards."
Obama added that setting and achieving high standards was about more than teaching to tests, which he said was the last thing he wanted to see.
"It's not about more tests, it's about being smarter about our assessments," he said. "It's about measuring not only whether our kids can master the basics, but whether they can solve challenging tasks, do they have the skills like critical thinking and teamwork and entrepreneurship. … a big picture look at how they're learning overall and assessments that will help tell us if our kids have the knowledge and the skills to thrive when they graduate."
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