President talks education, pushes Congress to replace No Child Left Behind
Earlier this week, President Obama gave the commencement speech at Booker T. Washington High School (above) in Memphis, TN, winners of the Administration's Race to the Top Commencement Challenge to prepare youth for college and career. The announcement was made back on May 10.
via Whitehouse.gov:
Booker T. Washington High School’s graduation rate went from 55% in 2007 to 81.6% in 2010. The school has taken steps such as establishing separate freshmen academies for boys and girls to help students adjust to the school culture and creating an atmosphere where teachers take personal interest in seeing students take pride in their schoolwork. Students can now take AP classes, learn about engineering through robotics competitions, and earn college credits.
Seeing Booker T. Washington High as an example of setting the right course in education, President Obama used this week's address to stress the need for reform in our nation's schools:
"We need to encourage this kind of change all across America. We need to reward the reforms that are driven not by Washington, but by principals and teachers and parents. That's how we'll make progress in education -- not from the top down, but from the bottom up."
Citing the importance of flexibility and community involvement in education reform, President Obama tauted his Administration's Race to the Top initiative and urged Congress to replace No Child Left Behind:
"Our challenge now is to allow all 50 states to benefit from the success of Race to the Top. We need to promote reform that gets results while encouraging communities to figure out what's best for their kids. That's why it's so important that Congress replace No Child Left Behind this year -- so schools have that flexibility."
President Obama's Weekly Address:
