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Correction: Calculating Spring Break
The information published in the Tuesday alert which gave an example of how to calculate Spring Break for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years was incorrect. It should read:
In the 2009-2010 school year, week one begins on July 5, which is the first week in July that begins on a Sunday. Spring break would occur 38 weeks after that, or the week of March 21 (March 22-26). In the 2010 school year, week one begins on July 4. Spring break would occur the week of March 20 (March 21-25).
We apologize for the error.
President Obama Speaks on National Education Plan
Tuesday, President Obama revealed his “cradle to career” plan for education in a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Obama's plan has four main points:
1. Establish a strong foundation.
• Give pre-K children equal access to early education programs.
• Develop seamless, comprehensive "zero to five" systems to improve early learning.
2. Foster a race to the top.
• Upgrade the quality of teaching and learning in America's schools.
• Enhance the rigor of state-level curriculum.
• End the use of "off the shelf" tests.
• Establish pay for performance models for teachers.
• Take steps to remove bad teachers from the classroom.
• Improve professional development.
• Implement programs that track a student's education from childhood through college, and that show a child's progress and where that child is struggling.
3. Drive innovation and expect excellence.
• Encourage growth of successful charter schools, reform charter rules, and lift the caps on the number of allowable charter schools.
• Address the drop-out crisis.
• Lengthen the time children spend in school, either with longer days or a longer school year.
• Turn around low performing schools.
4. Restore America's leadership in higher education.
• Increase access to college.
• Ensure that more students complete a successful college education.
• Restructure and expand financial aid programs.
• Invest in community colleges.
• Improve adult access to education and job training. Obama said that America will not remain true to its highest ideals unless we "do a far better job than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters; unless we give them the knowledge and skills they need in this new and changing world."
"And yet," he said, "Despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us. We have accepted failure for too long. Enough. America's entire education system must once more be the envy of the world."
NEA Supports Obama's Plan
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said that NEA agrees with much of Obama's education plan. "He’s off to a solid start, making the largest investment of federal funds in the history of public education with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," he said.
Obama's plan mirrors what NEA and its 3.2 million members have been advocating for quite some time, including:
• Improved professional development and mentoring for new and less effective teachers.
• A national investment in recruiting some of the most talented individuals into the field of teaching, and in scaling up innovative teacher preparation and induction models.
• Raising teachers' compensation based on their knowledge, skills and performance via collective bargaining action at the local level.
• Requiring universal pre-K.
• Ensuring access to high quality early childhood education programs and child care opportunities to help students enter kindergarten ready to learn.
• Making science and math education a national priority.
• Requiring all states to provide an assurance that they will work toward equity in distribution of teachers among high- and low-poverty schools.
• Reforming the No Child Left Behind initiative.
"We believe President Obama's plan gets us closer toward the goal of great public schools for every student," Van Roekel said.
Success Requires Effort at All Levels
Obama emphasized that education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success; it is a prerequisite. Providing a high-quality education for all children is critical to America's future success and standing in a global economy.
Meeting this goal requires a reform of our nation's educational system and holding schools accountable for helping all students meet world-class standards aligned to levels of knowledge and skill demanded by a new workforce. It requires solutions for schools to close the achievement gap, and strategies to accelerate the learning of those that are the furthest behind. It requires new reforms to promote effective teaching and attract the best and brightest into the profession. It requires a national strategy to confront America's persistent dropout crisis, and strengthen transitions to college and career.
And it requires more – not from the government, and not from teachers, but from every student and parent.
"No matter how innovative our schools or how effective our teachers, America cannot succeed unless our students take responsibility for their own education," Obama said. "That means showing up for school on time, paying attention in class, seeking out extra tutoring if it's needed, and staying out of trouble." And, he added, "No government policies will make any difference unless we also hold ourselves accountable as parents. Because government, no matter how wise or efficient, cannot turn off the TV or put away the video games…. These are things only a parent can do." Legislative alerts Archive go to www.aeaonline.org/political_action/alert.asp
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