Obama’s Blueprint for ESEA Reauthorization
If you haven’t read President Obama’s blueprint for reforming the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), it’s available for download here. All in all, it’s a pretty good outline and contains elements for everyone, but ultimately it should be seen as a reasonable compromise document on a contentious law. It doesn’t solve any of the meaty, technical details, but that’s a job for Congress anyway. For some contrast, consider that it’s more descriptive than anything the Administration has put out on health care. Things to note:
1. The proposal specifically brings important research into the conversation on two occasions. One is on the importance of quality teachers in the classroom. This should surprise no one. The other appeared in a section providing background for Obama’s push for “college- and career-ready” students and was a bit more surprising in proposals for a K-12 education law. It reads, “four of every 10 new college students, including half of those at 2-year institutions, take remedial courses…”
How will states be held accountable for this? They,
may either choose to upgrade their existing standards, working with their 4-year public university system to certify that mastery of the standards ensures that a student will not need to take remedial