President Obama came out swinging on Thursday, before the National Urban League in Washington. He pledged to protect Race to the Top, even if it meant using the veto pen. He seemed particularly incensed by the baseless claim that Race to the Top had shortchanged minority children.
He said the charge that it “isn’t targeted at those young people most in need is absolutely false because lifting up quality for all our children — black, white, Hispanic — that is the central premise of Race to the Top. And you can’t win one of these grants unless you’ve got a plan to deal with those schools that are failing and those young people who aren’t doing well.”
The president is not planning to apply the competitive grant system to mainstay, formula-financed programs, like Title I, which provides extra help to impoverished children. But he wisely plans to use the competitive approach for modestly financed new programs, like the one that will reward districts for innovative plans aimed at turning around consistently failing schools.
This week’s dust-up came just as the administration announced that 18 states and the District of Columbia had produced reform plans that qualified them for a share of $3.4 billion in grant money from Race to the Top. The winning states will be well positioned to enact reforms. But even those that do not win will benefit from the process of creating road maps to reform.
Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators
Important Notices: By participating on this discussion
board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules
page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the
opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent
the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
