WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sen. Barack Obama laid out
strategies to reform education in Dayton, Ohio, today. The National Education
Association applauded the comprehensive plan.
"Sen. Obama gets it," said Dennis Van Roekel, president of NEA. "He knows
that reform cannot take place overnight or by using quick fixes. Obama wants
to invest in comprehensive strategies, both immediate and long-term, which
will pay dividends for our children, our economy and our country."
Obama's plan includes investing in innovation, integrating technology into
coursework, increasing college access and affordability, recruiting, preparing
and retaining qualified teachers, and doubling the funding for charter
schools.
"Those of us in the education community can learn from charter school
success stories and failures," said Van Roekel. "The key is to identify what
is working that can be sustained and reproduced on a broad scale so that as
many students as possible can benefit."
Van Roekel added he was glad to see that Obama's plan for charter schools
included accountability, both academically and financially.
A result of the so-called No Child Left Behind law has been a narrowing of
curriculum, with schools more focused on getting students to fill in a bubble
on a test instead of expanding educational opportunities for those children.
Obama's plan calls for developing better assessments and increasing the number
of students taking advanced placement or college-level classes nationwide by
50 percent by 2016. He also stressed the need for parental and family
involvement and responsibility.
In July, NEA unveiled a plan to reshape the federal government's role in
education. Educators are pleased to see that some of the ideas outlined by
those in the classroom are being incorporated into Obama's education platform.
For example, the Democratic presidential nominee wants to invest in research
and development to further identify best practices and strategies to improve
student achievement.
For more information on NEA's plan, please visit:
http://www.nea.org/lac/federalrole.html
For more on NEA's campaign activities, please visit:
http://educationvotes.nea.org
The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional
organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers,
higher education faculty, education support professionals, school
administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
SOURCE The National Education Association
Ramona Parks-Kirby, +1-202-822-7823, rparks@nea.org
