[ti:Obama's 'Blueprint for Reform' in Education Goes to Congress]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:Education Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English
[00:03.51]Education Report.
[00:05.32]President Obama sent Congress
[00:08.08]a proposal this week
[00:09.67]to rewrite the main federal
[00:12.66]education law.
[00:14.24]The current version of the law,
[00:16.74] signed by George W. Bush
[00:19.30]eight years ago, is known
[00:21.44]as the No Child Left Behind Act.
[00:25.43]That name would go away.
[00:27.12]The current policy calls
[00:30.17]for every student to be able
[00:32.67]to pass state tests in reading
[00:35.16]and math by two thousand fourteen.
[00:38.67]All schools must show
[00:41.40]yearly progress toward this goal.
[00:43.94]But states decide how much students
[00:48.02]need to know to show "proficiency."
[00:51.22]President Obama's goal is that
[00:54.05]every student should graduate
[00:56.44]from high school -- in his words
[00:59.20]-- "ready for college and a career."
[01:01.85]The target date for schools
[01:04.90]is twenty twenty.
[01:07.25]The president described the plan
[01:09.59]in his weekly radio
[01:11.23]and Internet address on Saturday.
[01:14.77]BARACK OBAMA:" What this plan
[01:15.56]recognizes is that
[01:16.96]while the federal government
[01:18.15]can play a leading role
[01:19.46]in encouraging the reforms
[01:20.95]and high standards we need,
[01:22.19]the impetus for that change
[01:23.98]will come from states and
[01:25.33]from local schools and school districts."
[01:27.67]Under the new proposal,
[01:29.57]states and school systems
[01:31.76]would compete for federal grants.
[01:34.40]The idea is similar
[01:36.79]to the administration's
[01:38.17]four billion dollar Race
[01:40.80]to the Top competition to reform schools.
[01:45.11]Struggling schools could receive money
[01:47.95]for teacher improvement and
[01:49.95]for developing plans for success.
[01:53.57]The lowest performing schools
[01:56.11]would face changes such
[01:58.51]as replacing teachers
[02:00.40]and the principal or being closed.
[02:04.13]The administration sent
[02:06.06]its general ideas to Congress
[02:08.65]in what it called
[02:10.05]"A Blueprint for Reform"
[02:12.83]to develop the next education law.
[02:15.72]Ann Bryant is executive director
[02:19.22]of the National School Boards Association.
[02:22.45]Her group worked
[02:24.44]with the Department of Education
[02:26.14]on the plan.
[02:28.13]She says it is a good start
[02:30.72]but still needs work. For example:
[02:34.20]ANNE BRYANT: "There is no research
[02:35.55]that says that if you fire
[02:37.39]the principal you're going
[02:38.39]to get better results.
[02:39.19]There's no research that says
[02:40.33]if you fire half the faculty
[02:41.38]you're going to get good results.
[02:42.52]There is very little research
[02:44.66]that [says] that chartering
[02:46.01]or bringing in an outside
[02:47.81]management company may
[02:48.75]get you better results.
[02:49.83]And there is zero research
[02:52.05]that says closing the school
[02:53.59]necessarily helps those children."
[02:56.58]The plan would reward effective schools
[02:59.50]and teachers with money
[03:01.45]and other recognition.
[03:03.53]But leaders of the nation's
[03:05.38]largest teachers unions criticized
[03:09.17]the administration's "blueprint."
[03:11.51]Dennis Van Roekel of the National
[03:14.26]Education Association said
[03:16.51]it "still relies on standardized tests
[03:20.70]to identify winners and losers."
[03:23.66]He also expressed disappointment that
[03:27.80]states would have to compete for money.
[03:30.45]Randi Weingarten of the American Federation
[03:34.68]of Teachers said the plan appears
[03:37.51]to place all the responsibility
[03:40.22]on teachers, but gives them
[03:42.96]"zero percent authority."
[03:46.08]And that's the VOA Special English
[03:49.65]Education Report,
[03:51.39]written by Nancy Steinbach.
[03:53.38]I'm Steve Ember.
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA¾©Ïã2018ÏÂÔØ
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