President Barack Obama said on Saturday that he would send an abstract of his administration's plan to revamp the No Child Left Behind Act to Congress within a week.
The Act was introduced by former president George Bush immediately after taking office in 2001 and requires states to assess the basic skills of all students in certain grades to receive federal funding. The Act proposes setting high standards and measurable goals to improve individual outcomes in education.
The Obama administration had indicated previously that it intends to scrap some accountability criteria and would modify some sections of the Act together with the Congress. Obama said on Saturday that he plans to send a blueprint to Congress on Monday detailing ways for states and school districts to increase standards of elementary and secondary education.
"What this plan recognizes is that while the federal government can play a leading role in encouraging the reforms and high standards we need, the impetus for that change will come from states, and from local schools and school districts," Obama said.
Obama said the U.S. has lost to other countries, especially most wealthy countries, as it failed previously in reforming and strengthening public education. Wealthy countries are now better than the U.S. in terms of high-school graduation rates. The country has lost its leadership position in the proportion of college graduates, he said.
Obama had revealed a new vision for education while delivering his 2010 budge and had allotted $3 billion to federal allotments for education, and an additional $1 billion to the Act when its modified. Obama's revised plan is would provide incentives for top schools and urge under-performing schools to improve as well as provide additional support to teachers.
The revamp proposed by Obama now demands states to come up with college-and-career ready academic standards, details plans to modernize the country's 5,000 lowest performing public schools, aims for better teacher preparation as well as supports the use of multiple methods to evaluate learning.
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