Obama Calls for Big Education Reforms - More Charter Schools, Longer School Year
The U.S. education system needs to undergo dramatic reform, President Obama said today -- with new investments but also with new policies.
"You can't defend a status quo in which a third of our kids are dropping out," the president said this morning during a live interview on NBC's "Today Show." "You can't defend a status quo when you've got 2,000 schools across the coutry that are drop out factories."
The Obama administration has introduced a sweeping set of education reforms -- some of which have met some resistance -- such as the $4 billion "Race to the Top" initiative. The program offers educational grants to states that meet certain reform criteria. The president today called it "probably the most powerful tool we've seen for reform in a couple of decades."
While $4 billion is a relatively small figure to spend on education, Mr. Obama said it's "enough to get people's attention."
Furthermore, he said, money alone is not the solution to education reform.
"Money without reform does not fix the problem," he said.
The president said he expects "Race to the Top" to continue to meet resistance from politicians whose states may not be getting aid immediately. He also acknowledged that other players, such as teachers unions, can act as