Barack Obama on Education

"Morally untenable." That's how Barack Obama describes the current inequalities in public education. Obama gave a compelling speech in Dayton, Ohio on September 9, 2008 where he clearly laid out his education platform: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGdyEv_irmA

Obama spoke for 35 minutes and 50 seconds. He is a compelling speaker with a vision for change in our country. In the realm of education, his dreams and promises are insightful and comprehensive.

Obama calls for reform on four main fronts. He delineated his desires with conviction and hope. First he calls for changing teaching by the cliched raising expectations but he ads a twist; he says the government must provide adequate support for teachers hold up these high expectations. Next he calls for reforming what we teach our children. Like many experts, he suggests that traditional curriculum is not enough in the 21st Century. We need to teach skills like decison-making, problem-solving and team-working so that America can compete in the global marketplace. Obama knows this will take new technology in the classrooms and extended learning time. He slyly comments this would be affordable in exchange for a day or two of fighting in Iraq. Third he commits to investing in charter schools in order to increase healthy competition for resources within districts. Last, Obama promises to improve the quality of teachers in our schools by considering performance-based pay.

By closing his remarks with a cry for the responsibility we must all assume around the importance of the home and child-rearing, Obama not only was able to expound on his vision of education beyond the walls of our schools, he also helped the public see that family values, an issue that has won and lost elections, are to be preserved when he is elected.

Yes we can.