According to an Education Week’s article, President Obama’s speech tonight will touch on a few education issues.
Obama’s trip to Georgia on Thursday to an early-childhood education program, and Susan Bumgarner, an early childhood educator, sitting with Michelle, are signs of policy proposals for early-childhood education. Some continue to encourage our “Nanny State” to provide universal 3 & 4 yr. old preschool, and 0 to 3 yr. old for lower income families. We will see what happens tonight.
Meanwhile, K-12 education has recently gotten attention due to the state waivers under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). While states are trying to get out from under the burdensome provisions of No Child Left Behind (otherwise known as ESEA), the recent Senate Hearings exposed new, even more controlling strings with the wavers. Seems these wavers include states agreeing to “standards that are common to a significant number of states,” which in the mind of the Education Department is the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Obama’s vision for K-12 is moving ahead quite nicely; therefore, no need to focus attention in the speech on K-12 academics. The administration does not seem to care if ESEA ever gets “reauthorized” since their agenda is already impacting almost every state.
Other issues with implications for education policy will get attention such as immigration, gun control, and the “sequester.” Just like all other federal agencies the Department of Education will also get hit on March 1 with budget cuts. OH NO – WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE MONEY IS’T THERE?
Maybe the same thing that happen in our state which isn’t that bad!
