Obama: Teacher Training Vital to Economy
article by Daniel Duerden | January 26, 2012
During the State of the Union Address, President Obama reiterated the importance of education reform as crucial step toward rebuilding the economy. In his speech he touched upon two specific points related to education: teacher training and evaluation; and preventing students dropping out of school.
Obama emphasized the importance of great teachers in the classroom, explaining that they are a vital part of the economy.
“We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance,” Obama said.
However, in order to gain good teachers, the president’s reform points toward teacher evaluations. This has been a huge sticking point with teachers and education reform as they feel it forces teachers to teach to the test. Because of this, in his address, Obama proposed a deal for teachers.
“Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones,” Obama said. “And in return, grant schools flexibility: to teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn. That’s a bargain worth making.”
To help move this forward, a “blueprint” for reform was released with various propositions, including one on teachers.
According to the blueprint, the Obama Administration proposes that the teaching profession be treated more like a profession and increase the standards for teachers. The following guidelines were proposed, reiterating previous reform attempts:
• Reforming colleges of education and making these schools more selective;
• Creating new career ladders for teachers to become more effective, and ensuring that earnings are tied more closely to performance;
• Establishing more leadership roles and responsibilities for teachers in running schools; improving professional development and time for collaboration among teachers; and providing greater individual and collective autonomy in the classroom in exchange for greater accountability;
• Creating evaluation systems based on multiple measures, rather than just test scores;
• Re-shaping tenure to raise the bar, protect good teachers, and promote accountability.
In spite of these plans, lawmakers and congressmen, like Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., still would like more details on how to implement these changes and incentives to help teachers. And some are still skeptical of any involvement from the federal government.
“I don't believe the federal government has any business being involved in education,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in an interview.
Additionally, both in the blueprint and in his speech, the president made a call for all states—in addition to the 20 that already have—to make it mandatory for students to stay in high school until they graduate or until they turn 18. They would do this by making stronger dropout and truancy laws that penalize both students and parents for having their children out of school for extended periods of time.
“We also know that when students don’t walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma,” Obama said. “When students are not allowed to drop out, they do better.”
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