UPDATE 1-Obama outlines new education vision in budget

(Updates to add earlier education story)

By Lisa Lambert

WASHINGTON Feb 1 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama proposed an overhaul of how the U.S. government funds education in his budget proposal on Monday as part of a "new vision" for elementary and secondary schools.

To back the changes, the administration would add $3 billion to federal allotments for education. It would provide an additional $1 billion once the landmark law passed last decade known as "No Child Left Behind" is reauthorized.

The law and the federal government's role in education have come under fire in recent years, and Obama's reforms take many of the criticisms head on.

In his budget, the President said he seeks clearer standards for student achievement, improved teacher skills and more flexibility for states' relationships with schools in the law's reauthorization.

The last suggestion will likely be welcomed by state governments. On Monday, the National Conference of State Legislatures released a scathing report, saying that in the last decade the U.S. government's interference with curriculum and school reforms has hurt students.

The law has impossible and lengthy standards and inadvertently punishes poor performing schools by withholding money, the group, which represents state legislatures, said, echoing concerns voiced by teachers' groups.

It also said that local districts and states are closer to students' lives and understand their needs better, while the U.S. government is too removed. For more, see [ID:nN29114409]

In comparison, he said, the U.S. government provides seven cents of every dollar spent on education.

"States provide more funding for education than any other government service. On average, one-third of state budgets are devoted to supporting K-12 education alone," said Bob Plymale, a member of the West Virginia Senate, in a statement.

As part of the new version of the law, Obama would like 38 current programs consolidated into 11, emphasizing helping teachers in poor schools and raising the rigor of academic standards.

He would also expand the stimulus initiative known as "Race to the Top" that funded new education innovations, especially at semi-autonomous charter schools, and has added $490 million in his budget for the charter school system. He would also create a $500 million testing program to gauge the success of various innovations.

But the conference warned that the Race to the Top applies a "one-size-fits-all formula" to a diverse group of states.

In the budget, Obama also proposes giving $950 million of competitive grants to states and school districts for recruiting teachers and principals, as well as train them, and $210 million to "Promise Neighborhoods," to strengthen community services for students.

Last month, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the administration will seek to improve the "bottom 1 percent" of schools with the new funding and changes to the No Child law.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Andrew Hay)