Obama To Introduce Legislation to Help American Students Compete in a 21st Century Economy
Monday, March 13, 2006
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green (312) 886-3506
Date: March 13, 2006
Obama To Introduce Legislation to Help American Students Compete in a 21st Century Economy
CHICAGO - During a speech Monday at an education forum in Chicago, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) said that he will introduce legislation to create 20 Innovation Districts that would be given more resources to try substantial new reforms in teaching to help better prepare American students to compete in a 21st century economy. Obama said the Innovation Districts will be chosen from school districts around the country based on their plans to increase student achievement and place highly qualified teachers in their classrooms.
"Today we are failing too many of our children," said Obama. "We're sending them out into a 21st century economy by sending them through the doors of 20th century schools. We now live in a world where the most valuable skill you can sell is knowledge. Revolutions in technology and communication have created an entire economy of high-tech, high-wage jobs that can be located anywhere there's an internet connection. And today, a child in Chicago is not only competing for jobs with one in Boston, but thousands more in Bangalore and Beijing who are being educated longer and better than ever before."
"America is in danger of losing this competition," said Obama. "We now have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized country. By 12th grade, our children score lower on their math and science tests than most other kids in the world. And today, countries like China are graduating eight times as many engineers as we do."
Obama said that to prepare our students for a 21st century economy, we need make sure there is an excellent teacher in ever classroom. Obama said his legislation would support and try to replicate successful initiatives already occurring on a local level.
"If we truly believe in our public schools, then we have a moral responsibility to do better - to break the either-or mentality around the debate over education that asks us to choose between more money or more reform, and embrace a both-and mentality," Obama said. "Because we know that good schools will require both the structural reform and the resources necessary to prepare our kids for the future."
"School districts from around the country that want to become seedbeds of reform would apply and we'd select the twenty with the best plans to put effective, supported teachers in all classrooms and increase achievement for all students. We'd offer these districts substantial new resources to do this, but in return, we'd ask them to try systemic new reforms. Above all, we'd require results."
Innovation Districts will focus on teacher recruitment, training and retention, including offer pay increases to high-performing teachers and financial incentives to teachers willing to work in low-income schools. The districts would be required to partner with local universities, charitable foundations or community institutions to develop and execute their reforms plans and would be divided evenly between urban and rural areas.