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~ "ipsa scientia potestas est" ~ "Knowledge itself is power"
In his State of the Union address, President Obama was quoted as saying: “In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world class education.”
Here is what President Obama said about education in his State of the Union address:
This year, we have broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. The idea here is simple: instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform – reform that raises student achievement, inspires students to excel in math and science, and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to inner-cities. In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education. In this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than their potential.
When we renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we will work with Congress to expand these reforms to all fifty states. Still, in this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job. I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families.
To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants.
And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. And it’s time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs – because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem.
“In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world class education.” that's a little backward. It should be: "The best way to ensure a world class education is to eliminate poverty." See the work of the late Gerald W. Bracey, especially last year's "Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality". It's not the schools that are failing the students, it's the outside factors created by a lack of quality healthcare, nutrition, prenatal care, lax environmental standards, and stress inducing living conditions (both during development and in utero). The USA has a higher % of children living in poverty than any other developed nation, no wonder we can not score a highly on international tests. Eliminate poverty and you will eliminate our educational "problems". We simply do not have an adequate safety-net in this country to protect children and their parents.
3 comments:
Here is what President Obama said about education in his State of the Union address:
This year, we have broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. The idea here is simple: instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform – reform that raises student achievement, inspires students to excel in math and science, and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to inner-cities. In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education. In this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than their potential.
When we renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we will work with Congress to expand these reforms to all fifty states. Still, in this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job. I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families.
To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants.
And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. And it’s time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs – because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem.
“In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world class education.” that's a little backward. It should be: "The best way to ensure a world class education is to eliminate poverty." See the work of the late Gerald W. Bracey, especially last year's "Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality". It's not the schools that are failing the students, it's the outside factors created by a lack of quality healthcare, nutrition, prenatal care, lax environmental standards, and stress inducing living conditions (both during development and in utero).
The USA has a higher % of children living in poverty than any other developed nation, no wonder we can not score a highly on international tests. Eliminate poverty and you will eliminate our educational "problems". We simply do not have an adequate safety-net in this country to protect children and their parents.
Oh boy - are you ever right about that, Eric.
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