Obama's Education Plan - Article Example

Obama’s Education Plan Introduction: At this exemplifying juncture in history, strengthening our children to compete in this multicultural economy isone of the most crucial challenges we encounter. We should stop paying hypocritical respect to public education, and should support organizations, executives, teaching professionals, guardians, and students. The people need to get the next generation ready for achievement at university level and the personnel, guaranteeing that U.S. children guide the globe once again in artistry and accomplishment. To construct a deep-rooted foundation for U.S.’s economic welfare and security, the country requires to take care of major challenges faced by the people of U.S.— energy, health management, and education. The issues can only be overcome by integrating all the citizens (Organizing on the issues, n.d.). Barrack Obama, forty-fourth President of United States, and Joe Biden, forty-seventh Vice-President of United States, are of opinion that providing a world-class education is a solution to facing several challenges of the country, and that top level public schools gives the way towards global opportunity, high-standard profession and strong local organizations. Although there are better schools in U.S., one thing which the state can do is to provide education to the children by initiating successful programs so that they become the benchmark within the country. Aspiring targets must be set for education which will include expertise of modern twenty-first century, good attributes and erudite citizenship (Barrack Obama and Joe Biden’s plan for lifetime success through education, n.d.). In this paper, the focus will be on the present educational structure, the charter schools and their merits and President Obama’s initiative on educational plan. The Present Educational System: The educational system in U.S. provides worldwide students the most multifaceted set of educational opportunities globally. In fact, a global student has the option to select anything from science to humanities. The options for U.S. students are almost unending! According to U.S. educational system, twelve years of primary and secondary education is a must before joining college or university. Students can get admitted to government-operated institutions or at private institutions. In various sectors the U.S. education system offers the most excellent, well-known programs at the worlds quality institutions. Therefore, graduating from an authorized U.S. institution and being exhibited to the accuracy of the U.S. education system is an asset for one’s future (American Education System: Understanding the American Education System, n.d.). The movement of charter schools, their merits for education and the future of our democratic society: An Evaluation The Office of New Schools (ONS) of Chicago Public Schools is liable to establish new and modern institutions that will enable top class educational opportunities to help the students of Chicago public school. ONS looks after about 104 schools formed through Renaissance 2010. The Illinois General Assembly certified 45 charter schools for the state itself which includes 15 for Chicago. In 2003, 15 more charters were certified for Chicago. These institutions were successful in gaining students’ achievement, increased necessity, and complete satisfaction of parents and guardians. This led to the foundation of Renaissance 2010, an incipient taken to provide world class educational opportunities across Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley launched Renaissance 2010 in June 2004 (Welcome to Renaissance 2010, n.d.). The charter schools have made use of more teachers as incentives. These researches can get acquainted with administrative behavior, human resource theory, and public management. These findings can also be applied to create awareness about the practices and educational procedure to enhance the public schooling. Outside the domain of education, the public executives can be aware of the difference between profit and non-profit firms (Brown, 2007). However, according to national assessment of first-school choice opportunities, the charter institutions’ performances are not up to the level compared to the conventional schools. The study observed that the mathematics IQ level of 37 per cent of students in charter schools is lower than the traditional public school students. 47 per cent of charter schools students were found to be indifferent in scoring in mathematics to the traditional school students. This implies that the remaining 17 per cent students of charter schools can score more in mathematics than the public school students. The Centre for Education Reform, Washington views that the charter schools are based on unarranged variables, antagonistic demographics and a basic methodology. According to their report, students who match their demographics participated in special programs or proficient in English got low score compared to students of traditional schools. This is considered as a flaw because students’ IQ varies. The unwillingness to close the under-performing institutions because of strong organizational supporters hurts the sentiments of the students of charter schools. That is why the students are performing poorly (Miners, June 2009). According to Stanford economist, Caroline Hoxby, the executive body of the charter schools administer their institutions will full autonomy and are thus held responsible for the consequences. As stated by her the teaching staffs are the backbone of the students and their achievements. It has also been estimated that a teacher’s earning is based on the seniority principle-how many years of relevant experience does he/she have or does anyone hold a master’s degree. According to her, money should be invested on the young, energetic, meritorious teaching staffs rather than old and average teachers. Although technology has been a drawback, but she suggested that virtual classrooms can be successful for intelligent students to get admitted to universities (Stanford economist says charter schools can pull U.S. out of educational slump, 2008). Obama’s Educational Plan: Barrack Obama had produced a plan in November, 2007 to invest $18 billion on education of children, prevention of dropouts and incentives of teaching staffs. His views on education were different from many educational organizations. He wanted to modify the rules made during 2002 where No Child Left behind Fed Law was established. The law was dependent on correlation between federal investment and the results of the students on mechanical tests. He wanted to replace the standardized tests with more complex tests. Obama was in favor of investing in early childhood programs, provide teachers bonuses and subsidize those schools that have longer duration of school days or school years. According to Obama, the teachers’ pay scale would not depend on the performance of the benchmark tests. He also supported discretional merit pay program in Denver where the level of performance of a teacher is counted on the probability of a student’s achievement (Moore, 2007). In most of the schools, a teacher’s earning depends on how well they can teach. And Denver has turned into a leader in regard to performance pay (Abramson, 2008). On the other hand, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and NEA President, Reg Weaver went against the merit pay program as they think that this program would be very insulting and disappointing for the teachers. For funding the educational program, Obama thought of delaying the NASA space programs and eliminating the tax deductions of CEO pay by organizations. He proposed a tax approval to cover the expenses of society colleges (Moore, 2007). In February 2009, Obama has made a plan to make the college level education more feasible for the students. He has implemented K-12 education. According to Terry Hartle, member of American council of Education, President Obama’s educational plan is more significant than that of President Bush. The increase in educational expenditure by $5.3 billion on the budget placed by Obama is very much symbolical in 2009. Obama ensures benefiting students in the long run. Obama wants to increase non-obligatory budget for U.S. Department of Education by 12.8 per cent. He plans to save $4 billion per year by eliminating the government subsidized educational loan program which was only solely By Fed government. The Federal Family Education Loan program (FFEL), a subsidized program, overshadowed direct loan program in 2008, advancing credit of $56 billion to nearly 6 million students. By contrast, the credit advanced by direct loan program was $14 billion to approximately 1.5 million students. Obama also plans to increase granting $5550 to low-income college students which will be compulsory in the federal government budget. Thirty years back the Pell Grant used to cover 77 per cent of a student’s education, now it has been reduced to 35 per cent. To increase the rates of education in colleges, Obama proposed an expenditure of $2.5 billion over five year period. He wants to invest more on early childhood education and wanted to take a new initiative called Promise Neighborhoods. This effort will provide the poor urban kids the benefit of K-12 education, nutrition, health care, parenting classes, etc. (Toppo and Marklein, 2009). Early childhood education program can be implemented by introduction of Head Start and other programs so that no child is deprived of entering into kindergarten. After completion of high school, the U.S. people would be provided minimum one year of higher education or job training to enhance the workforce in U.S. economy (Education, n.d.). The early education of Obama and Biden will cost about $18 billion per year. They have planned to reduce the deficit spending and encourage saving by cutting unnecessary expenditures. Obama’s educational program includes increasing investment in Child Care Development Block Grant Program (CCDBG) which will provide aid to the low-income groups to finance their child’s education. Obama also ensured to maintain the quality standard of child care services. The quality improvements include students to teachers’ ratio, providing aid to families regarding child care and increasing the teachers’ training and development. Obama also ensured programs for all low-income groups of people and first- time mothers. The Nurse-Family Partnership program provides mental and physical support of trained nurses to the expecting mothers. It will improve women’s health during pregnancy; minimize utility of welfare and food stamps increased childrens school eagerness. The Obama-Biden plan will support nearly 570,000 first-time mothers every year (Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s plan for lifetime success through education, n.d.). In context to the above study of the charter schools and Barack Obama’s educational plan, a round of interviews have been taken of three people from the field of education who had given their different views regarding the educational system and suggested ways to improve it. These three individuals are from Arizona State University. The interviewees have requested not to disclose their names. Thus we have agreed to do so. We have made primary survey to know the reactions of the students about the present educational structure. The asked questions and the received answers are given in the Appendix. The questions asked are all open ended questions and the interview was taken through e-mail. According to the primary survey, all the three students of Arizona State University are supporting and looking forward for implementation of Obama’s plan. The Pell grant program is highly appreciated by the students. The Merits Pay program is liked by all the three individuals. This program will be of immense help to the students as well as for the teachers. If the teachers provide best service through their teaching, then it will be advantageous for the students. If a student can get all the educational facility from the school only, then they do not require any sort of private tuition. As opinioned by all these three individuals, a student’s upbringing and education not necessarily depend on an institution. It is true that the standard of institution does matter. But what matters a lot is a student’s capability or capacity to grasp whatever is taught in his or her class. The IQ level is important. Conclusion: The primary survey tells us that Obama’s education plan is approved by most of the individuals especially the college students. But if we see from the point of view of the other people of the nations, not all of the plans are appreciated by the other citizens. Let us consider the Merits pay program. We will find many of the citizens are not happy with the decision although they know that this kind of performance salary will definitely bring a change in the classroom. Sometimes, it is found that politics acts as a hindrance in the path of assessment. Then a teacher’s personality becomes much important than his performance. A teacher’s profession is not only limited to his teaching. He ha to do paperwork, brings home the work during weekends, corrects the papers and attends meetings with the parents. Thus this should also be included into the performance level as viewed by many of the teaching professionals and other citizens. Thus educational implementation should be done keeping into mind the benefits and the future of all the individuals in the society. Then only a proper institutional set-up can be established. References: 1. Abramson, L. (January 2008). “Merit Pay for Denver Teachers Gets Mixed Reaction.” NPR, available at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17527987 (Accessed on July 4, 2009). 2. “American Education System: Understanding the American Education System”, (n.d.), U.S.A. Study Guide, available at: http://www.usastudyguide.com/usaeducationsystem.htm (Accessed on July 3, 2009). 3. “Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s plan for lifetime success through education”, n.d. Obama Biden, available at: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/PreK-12EducationFactSheet.pdf (Accessed on July 3, 2009). 4. Brown, H. (January 2007). Personnel Incentives in US Charter Schools, available at: http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/4/3/5/2/pages143528/p143528-1.php (Accessed on July 4, 2009). 5. “Education”,( n.d.) Organizing for America, available at: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/ (Accessed on July 3, 2009). 6. Miners, Z, (June 18, 2009). Charter Schools Might Not Be Better. Yahoo news, available at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20090618/ts_usnews/charterschoolsmightnotbebetter (Accessed on July 4, 2009). 7. Moore, M.H. (November, 2007). “Obama unveils $18B education plan”. USAToday, available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-11-20-obama-education_N.htm (Accessed on July 4, 2009). 8. “Organizing on the issues.” ( n.d.) Organizing for America, available at: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ (Accessed on July 3, 2009). 9. “Stanford economist says charter schools can pull U.S. out of educational slump.” (March 2008). Stanford Story bank, available at: http://storybank.stanford.edu/stories/stanford-economist-says-charter-schools-can-pull-us-out-educational-slump (Accessed on July 4, 2009). 10. Toppo, G, Marklein, M.B. (February 2009). “Obama aims high for higher education.” USA Today, available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-02-26-educationbudget_N.htm (Accessed on July 4, 2009). 11. “Welcome to Renaissance 2010!” (n.d. ) Chicago Public Schools, available at: http://www.ren2010.cps.k12.il.us/ (Accessed on July 3, 2009). Appendix: Individual 1: Q1. What is your view regarding Barack Obama’s education plan? Ans. I definitely support Obama’s plan. It would be of immense help to the poor people who cannot afford education for their children. Q2. Do you support whatever initiative he has taken? Ans. For years, lending institutions and banks were over-subsidized to provide student loans. Thus, the loan program by Obama will save certain expenses of the government. Q3. What do you find different in his plan and Former President Bill Clinton’s plan? Ans. I think that Obama’s plan will prove to be successful compared to any other plans proposed by others. Q4. Do you agree with Merits Pay education program? (Please explain). Ans. Yes, I do agree with Merits Pay program but proper implementation is required. Q5. What is your opinion about the progress of charter schools? Ans. A student’s capability does not totally depend upon the school in which he is raking education. A student’s merit depends upon his capacity and his IQ. I agree that institution does matter. Charter schools are doing well from their side. It depends upon a student how much he or she can take from his education. Individual 2: Q1. What is your view regarding Barack Obama’s education plan? Ans. It is an amazing decision because being a student I can understand that education is essential for every individual- from rich to poor people. And taking care of every educational issue is very critical. I hope Obama will improve our educational sector in a broad way. Q2. Do you support whatever initiative he has taken? Ans. The Pell Grant program will provide immense benefit to all the college students to have the opportunity to the study further. Q3. What do you find different in his plan and Former President Bill Clinton’s plan? Ans. Clinton had made direct loan program an entitlement which was a flaw from his side. I support Obama for is granting loan program to colleges. Q4. Do you agree with Merits Pay education program? Ans. By the help of Merits Pay program we can easily judge the capability of teachers. It will also indirectly help students to have a bright future ahead. The students do not need to take private tuitions also. Q5. What is your opinion about the progress of charter schools? Ans. It has been seen that the charter schools are doing not well as expected from them. But a student’s merit can only be judged by his capacity to grasp whatever is taught to him. Individual 3: Q1. What is your view regarding Barack Obama’s education plan? Ans. I personally support K-12 educational program where the trained teachers will be providing help to the students to achieve their goals. Q2. Do you support whatever initiative he has taken? Ans. The Pell Grant and the tax credit initiative is a nice plan to provide funds to the students and this will also save much unnecessary costs and prevent deficit from the government’s side. Q3. What do you find different in his plan and Former President Bill Clinton’s plan? Ans. Obama’s K-12 educational plan and merit pay program is very much different from any other plans of Clinton. We prefer Obama’s plan but do not know how much this initiative will be put to work. Q4. Do you agree with Merits Pay education program? Ans. Merits Pay program is a nice concept but judging a teacher’s capability to teach by means of this program is somewhat undervaluing a teacher’s capacity. The seniority principle must be maintained with keeping in mind a student’s future. Q5. What is your opinion about the progress of charter schools? Ans. I believe in the saying “Learning by doing.” If a charter school is able to provide all the benefits of education to a child, then why not go for it. Read More