President Obama on Thursday pressed Republican lawmakers to embrace his plan for turning around underperforming schools, an approach that includes merit pay, easier removal of ineffective teachers and other measures the White House says should garner support across the aisle. The president and a collection of senators from both parties hashed over a model that would competitively award education dollars, a shift that would place less emphasis on test scores and more focus on teacher achievement ?– and make it easier to shut down underperforming schools. For years, Republicans have tried to implement similar proposals, but the Obama initiative would have to move through a Republican-controlled House that has little desire to deliver any legislative victories to the president. And Democrats may balk at alienating teachers unions, which have been resistant to many of the changes proposed by Obama.
Under Obama’s budget, the federal government would spend more than $77 billion on education next year ?– one of the few areas where the president called for more spending ?– and most of the increase would pay for competitive grant programs, teacher training and an injection of new math and science teachers.
Obama “believes that the track record of bipartisan support for his education initiatives, and bipartisan support in general for education reform along the lines that he supports is very encouraging in terms of our ability to get something done this year,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday, when asked about the prospects of overhauling the current No Child Left Behind law.
The law was former President George W. Bush’s signature education initiative but it has been criticized by lawmakers in both parties for placing too much stock in test scores, as schools consistently fail to meet standards.
Obama is essentially calling for another $1.4 billion in grant money for which school districts would compete, an arrangement supporters say would remove the politics from the process.
Though teachers groups praised the increased investment in the classroom, some remain hesitant about widespread competition for limited federal dollars.
“Funding determined by competition sometimes allows those districts who can most afford it to have an edge, and that is troubling when all students — particularly disadvantaged children — need help,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Obama acknowledges that unions can be a barrier to improving schools, but administration officials are trying to balance their wooing Republicans with their long-term commitment to union members.
It can be ticklish. When Carney was asked the White House’s reaction to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to strip unionized state workers of their collective bargaining rights, Carney called the maneuver an “assault on unions” and added, “It’s easy to paint public employees as faceless bureaucrats.”
