Social and cultural factors doubtless play a big role in all this. Schools alone are not to blame. But the evidence is clear that what happens in the classroom matters, and that underperforming schools are contributing hugely to the problem.
Fixing them is itself a multi-faceted challenge. In some cases, money is the issue. Local financing of schools means that students in rich areas are lavished with resources, whereas schools in poor areas are often starved. On the other hand, money is not the whole story. High-tax jurisdictions, such as Washington DC, have among the highest rates of spending per pupil in the country, and among the worst test scores.
The keys ”“ and here comes the political challenge ”“ are accountability and competition. However you do it, through school vouchers if you want to be radical, or the faster expansion of self-governing charter schools if you do not, the crucial thing is to give parents alternatives to failing schools. This means firing the worst teachers and shutting the worst schools. Teachers’ unions have a death grip on the system and are having none of it. In many parts of the country, sacking a teacher, however incompetent, is next to impossible. Will Mr Obama dare to face down this powerful Democratic party constituency?
I realize that this is very politically incorrect, but after teaching in public and private schools for a total of 28 years, I’m convinced that the problem isn’t “underperforming schools”. The problem is underachieving students. For the most part they don’t care about what they are being taught! And to tell the truth, I wouldn’t either. It is mostly PC/evolutionary/exclusively empirical/feel good/sentimental self-help garbage. And the shame of it is that even “Christian” schools feel that they have to pattern their curriculum after this junk when they should be showing the world what Truth looks like!
Pres. Obama has already shown that he won’t face down the teachers’ unions, as evidenced by his cancellation of the D.C. school voucher program, which had provable results of truly helping those students taking advantage of it. At least he was finally convinced not to stop the program immediately, as he initially wanted to do, but those already enrolled in private schools (like Sidwell Friends, where the Obama daughters go to school) will be able to finish through graduation. But no new students will get these vouchers. The D.C. schools are among the worst in the nation, but that doesn’t matter against the power of the teachers unions.
#2. certainly the writer knows what Obama has already done, so I don’t understand why he doesn’t answer the question as you correctly have.
No Democrat is going to face down NEA/AFT. Period.