Prez to Unveil $4B Education Boost Today

2014 deadline for bringing all students to proficiency to be ditched

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration is planning a sweeping overhaul of the Child Left Behind law to create a new model for how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing. The White House plans to change parts of the law educators have found most objectionable and award more federal money based on academic perfomance instead of number of students, educators briefed on the administration's plans tell the New York Times . More»

Race to the Top program has sparked a 'quiet revolution' in education

(NEWSER) - President Obama's huge success in education reform has been overlooked amid all the carping about his failure to deliver as much change as expected, writes David Brooks. The $4.3 billion Race to the Top fund Obama and Arne Duncan established has helped accelerate real reform in education and has won the president praise from everybody "from Newt Gingrich to Al Sharpton," Brooks writes in the New York Times. More»

Tight with prez, Duncan holds keys to $5B in stimulus funds

(NEWSER) - Tight with President Obama and with $5 billion at his disposal, Arne Duncan may become the strongest education secretary in history, writes Nia-Malika Henderson for Politico. “Never ever have they had $5 billion to decide what to do in the education system,” says an education advocate. And it’s up to Duncan—a big believer in merit pay for teachers, data systems to track performance, and charter schools to try new strategies—to choose how to dispense that cash to states. More»

Public school voted tops will land president

(NEWSER) - If your high school commencement speech was some guy from the Chamber of Commerce, the White House has a less nap-inducing alternative: The public school voted most dedicated to prepping its kids for college and career will get a graduation address from one Barack Obama. Six finalist schools are on the ballot, which is up for vote starting today as part of the administration's "Race to the Top." More»

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton ran into each other today at the White House, on purpose, to discuss education reform with President Obama, USA Today reports. Sharpton noted that they were “two who have not agreed on anything politically,” but joined in an effort to remedy a “crisis.” The two met with President Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. More»