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Obama Makes Education a State of Union Centerpiece

By Alyson Klein and Michele McNeil

President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to put education front-and-center on the national agenda, and on the agenda of the newly divided Congress. And he tied his education proposals, including the long-stalled reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, directly to the nation's economic future.

"This is our generation's Sputnik moment," he said, alluding to the nation's 1960s-era investment in research and education spurred by concerns after the launch of the Soviet space satellite.

While calling for a five-year federal spending freeze, the president—without giving budget specifics—also proposed spending more on education as part of a campaign to "win the future."

"Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine," Obama said. "It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you'll feel the impact."

Obama called for a new bipartisanship and civility in Washington, and education is one of the few areas where there is the potential for bipartisan cooperation. He did not propose any new initiatives for revising the nine-year-old No Child Left Behind Act. Instead, he reiterated his commitment to changing it.

Hewing closely to the ESEA blueprint he released last March, the president framed the law's renewal as an attempt to build on the success of his signature, $4 billion Race to the Top competition and to find the right role for the federal government in education, while at the same time raising expectations for students and schools. That blueprint proposed replacing the law's main yardstick—Adequate Yearly Progress—with a new one aimed at measuring whether students are ready for college or a career. And it proposed moving to a growth model, where schools get credit for improving individual students' progress.

"And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids," he said, which elicited applause in the chamber.

"Race to the Top," he said, "is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation."

Obama also announced an initiative to train 100,000 new teachers in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering, or STEM subjects. He plans to expand "promising and effective teacher preparation models" for STEM teachers.

In fact, some of his statements about the teaching profession, including his proclamation that the country must "reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones," drew strong applause.

Last year's effort to reauthorize the ESEA was overshadowed by other domestic priorities, including the health care overhaul law. The chairman and ranking members on the committees and subcommittees overseeing education policy—the so-called "Big 8"—met regularly with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. House and Senate education committees each held hearings on the blueprint, but neither chamber released a bill. Still, discussions continued at the staff level, particularly in the House, throughout the summer and fall.

The president's budget will call for a "bold restructuring" of federal education funding, White House aides said in advance of the speech. That sounds similar to the changes the president proposed for K-12 in the still-pending fiscal 2011 budget, which sought to combine smaller programs into broader funding streams. But Congress didn't take the administration up on those suggestions.

Obama also called on Congress to revamp immigration laws so that high-performing students who came to the United States illegally as children can work toward citizenship, and talented foreign students who come here to pursue higher education are able to stay and contribute to the economy.

He said he wants to see a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill this year that includes what's known as the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for undocumented students who pursue higher education or the join the military.

But the DREAM Act faces long odds in Congress; it failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate last year, even though there were more Democrats in the chamber at that time. And it's going to be especially tough this year in the much-more conservative House of Representatives, now controlled by Republicans.

This isn't the first time the president has asked Congress to reauthorize the ESEA. In last year's speech, he called for an additional $4 billion in federal spending on K-12 education along with reauthorization.

As is customary for presidents in this annual speech, Obama trumpeted last year's successes. Among them: the 11 states plus the District of Columbia that won the $4 billion Race to the Top competition, which pitted states against each other to propose bold education-reform plans, with significant buy-in from local districts. The administration is seeking money from Congress to extend the program for an additional year.

And with the Obama administration prodding them along, all but seven states have now signed on to create common academic standards for all students—another move that the president touted in his speech.

Obama also highlighted a key education provision in the controversial health-care overhaul legislation—one that eliminated private lenders as the middleman in federally subsidized student loans. The savings, which could be up to $67 billion according to one congressional estimate, are to be reinvested in the Pell Grant program to fund more financial aid for college students.

He also asked lawmakers to make permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which can provide up to $10,000 for four years of college.

In a sign of how important education would be in the speech, first lady Michelle Obama's box was filled with students who personify the issues Obama talked about. Among them: a community college student who created a fully adjustable motorized chair for disabled people; a middle schooler who designed a solar car; and a 16-year-old who developed an emerging cancer treatment that uses light energy to activate a drug that kills cancer cells.

Reaction to Obama's speech from inside and outside of the Capitol was generally positive, sprinkled with some constructive criticism.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the ranking member of the Senate's K-12 policy subcommittee and one of the chamber's experts on K-12, told Education Week that reauthorizing ESEA "is an area where we can be bipartisan," adding he's "hopeful" for its passage.

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, agreed. Education is one area where lawmakers can "learn to flex their bipartisan muscles," he said, adding that he expected a "bunch of good ideas" as policymakers debate the next iteration of ESEA.

Obama's emphasis on Race to the Top did not escape the notice of lawmakers from rural parts of the country.

Rep. Kristi Noem, a Republican from South Dakota, said she thinks Race to the Top is a good program but difficult for a rural state like hers to compete in. And she called the administration's ESEA blueprint "good, but very nonspecific. I'm a person who likes specifics. But it was a good starting point."

Jack Jennings, the president and chief executive officer of the Center on Education Policy in Washington, pointed out that Obama spent little time talking about how the NCLB law would be altered.

"All he did was talk about making it like Race to the Top. He's going to have a heck of a lot of trouble with that," Jennings said, adding that many members of Congress, plus major educational organizations, see shortcomings in the competitive program that created winners and losers among states.

In an interview the day before the speech, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said that he thinks there is the potential for a bipartisan reauthorization this year, particularly with the president's sustained support.

"I expect that he will be speaking out and directly involved in this process," Miller said. "It ain't gonna happen without him." And he said there is a growing bipartisan consensus that the NCLB law is "rapidly becoming outdated. ... It's no longer a match with where schools and [districts] want to go in terms of raising standards." He said that mismatch is "leading to some odd results," where schools that are making progress with individual students are still being labeled as failures.

Reporter Catherine Gewertz contributed to this report.

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A Glass Half-Full SOTU

By Rick Hess

President Obama's State of the Union remarks on education were thematic and clichéd, but his themes were admirable and his clichés were sensible. This made sense in a speech which proclaimed "the future is ours to win." Moreover, in a pleasant surprise, his bracing words were unencumbered by calls for new spending or new programs. And, for what it's worth, I found heart-warming and credible some of his conciliatory words and paeans to the American family and the American spirit.

The President led off by talking not about schools or spending, but about families and parental responsibility. The President noted, "It's family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline."

The President had admirably firm words for schools; words it would have been startling to hear a national Democratic figure utter even four or five years ago. He said, "When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don't meet this test. That's why instead of just pouring money into a system that's not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top." I'd quibble with the President's characterization of RTT, but the sentiment is admirable enough. The President then doubled down, declaring, "We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones."

The President urged Congress to "replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids." Despite the applause it got, that sentiment is unlikely to come to fruition this year--but the charge is a starting point.

All that said, there were plenty of disappointments. The President was disingenuous when he characterized the under-the-radar nationalization of student lending (in the Health Care Reform Act) as entailing the end of "unwarranted taxpayer subsidies" to banks. He was unconvincing when he blandly announced that we're helping workers retool for a fast-changing economy by "revitalizing America's community colleges." It was a shame he didn't say anything about the need to boost productivity or address unaffordable pensions.

And it would've been nice to see the President suggest that his SOTU paeans to free enterprise, innovation, and technology also applied to education. But let's not be greedy.

On the broader question of living within our means and doing something about the burden we're imposing on our children and today's students, there was a glaring disjuncture between word and deed. To paraphrase St. Augustine, the President's plea seemed to be, "Lord, help us stop living beyond our means, but not just yet."

He announced, "We are living with a legacy of deficit-spending that began almost a decade ago. And in the wake of the financial crisis, some of that was necessary...But now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable. Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means. They deserve a government that does the same."

When push came to shove, however, the President came up short. His tepid "domestic discretionary freeze" (accompanied with various exceptions) shaves perhaps one percent of projected spending over the next decade. He talked of the need to control unaffordable entitlement spending, but seemingly took any serious measures off the table. He reassured 98% of Americans that their taxes, nonetheless, would stay down. All of this sets a dismal example for states and school districts asked to make do.

Still and all, I liked the music even where I thought the lyrics came up short.

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SOTU Reax: Higher Ed, Crushing ESEA and Early Childhood Dreams (but a plug for DREAM)?

By Sara Mead

Despite all the hype leading up to it, there was, as my colleague Andrew Rotherham notes, not a lot of substance on K-12 education in tonight's State of the Union Address. Most of what was there was not new (see below) or feel-goody: calls for parental responsibility, calls to respect teachers, calls on young people to become teachers.

Not only was there not much of a push on ESEA reauthorization, but the dynamic in the room also didn't seem particularly promising there: Sure, there was some clapping for the President's call to "replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids," but the total lack of clapping for RTT, which presumably offers the blueprint of the administration's key priorities for ESEA reauthorization, seems much more telling in terms of the prospects for bipartisan action there.

In light of that and the emphasis on competitiveness, STEM, and higher education in the speech, don't be surprised if we see relatively more attention to higher education going forward--not surprising as we head towards an election year, when college affordability is typically seen as a bigger winner with middle-class voters than ed reform issues. Unfortunately, tonight that meant plugging the administration's $10,000 college tax credit, which, while probably appealing to middle class families concerned with college affordability, is costly (particularly problematic in light of tonight's deficit emphasis and the looming Pell grant shortfall issue), problematic in terms of distributive impacts and interactions with other financial aid programs, and probably doesn't do all that much in terms of moving us toward the President's stated goal of increasing postsecondary attainment to restore the U.S. to first-in-the world in postsecondary attainment by 2020.

I found that the biggest disappointment of the speech as relates to education, followed by the total absence of early childhood (Not that I was expecting to hear anything about early childhood tonight).

But whatever disillusionment I felt was immediately cancelled out by the President's call to "stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses, and further enrich this nation"--invoking both the DREAM Act and the need to enable highly skilled foreign students who earn college or graduate degrees in our postsecondary institutions the opportunity to stay in this country and work. Both steps are the right thing to do on moral grounds and they also help boost our economy and the goal of improving postsecondary attainment rates.

And this one just in from eSchool News...

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Obama: Spare education from budget cuts

President’s State of the Union address calls for more investment in research and education, setting up a showdown with House Republicans over education funding

From staff and wire reports

In his State of the Union address on Jan. 25, President Obama called for more investment in education, innovation, and infrastructure—setting up a showdown between his administration and Republicans in Congress who are seeking billions of dollars in cuts to domestic spending.

Addressing a nation still reeling from the tragic shooting rampage in Tucson earlier this month that targeted U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and left six people dead, including 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, Obama called for a members of both political parties to work together in addressing the challenges facing the nation.

“Each of us is a part of something greater—something more consequential than party or political preference,” the president said. “We are part of the American family.” Breaking with tradition, members of Congress adopted a bipartisan seating arrangement that saw many political adversaries sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in an unusual demonstration of unity.

But the spirit of compromise might be short-lived once lawmakers get back to business, as there are stark differences in how each political party views the solutions to the nation’s challenges—which include steep budget deficits, aging infrastructure, stagnant academic achievement, and competition from other nations for 21st-century jobs.

How these differences play out will have important implications for U.S. schools and colleges, as well as their students.

Recognizing the need to scale back government spending, Obama called for a five-year freeze on domestic discretionary spending. But he wants to exempt spending on education and research from this freeze.

“I recognize that some in this chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I’m willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without,” he said. “But … cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take long before you’ll feel the impact.”

Repeating a line from a speech he gave at Forsyth Technical Community College last month, the president called this “our generation’s Sputnik moment.” He noted that China now boasts the world’s fastest computer, and South Koreans have faster internet access than Americans.

To compete in the new global economy, “we need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,” Obama said. “The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.”

He said he would propose a budget for fiscal year 2012 that invests more money in biomedical research, information technology, and clean energy technology—“an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people,” he said.

On education, the president will ask Congress to extend a $10,000 college tax credit and pay for thousands of new science and math teachers as part of a broad rewrite of the nation’s education system.

The tax break for students originally was included in the economic stimulus bill passed shortly after Obama took office. In his State of the Union address, Obama reiterated his call for Congress to make it permanent.

Obama also called for 100,000 more science and technology teachers by the end of the decade. And he wants Congress to replace the No Child Left Behind law with new measures giving more flexibility to schools.

The president asked for more federal investment in infrastructure as well, saying: “Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans.”

“This isn’t just about a faster internet and fewer dropped calls,” he continued. “It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age. … It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device, a student who can take classes with a digital textbook, or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor.”

To help pay for these initiatives, Obama wants to eliminate billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to oil companies, get rid of corporate tax loopholes that allow some companies to skate by without paying U.S. taxes, and roll back the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

“Before we take money away from our schools, or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break,” the president said. “It’s not a matter of punishing their success; it’s about promoting America’s success.”

Some of Obama’s proposals will face opposition from members of his own party.

Touting the success of his administration’s Race to the Top (RttT) program in spurring widespread education reforms in states across the nation, Obama said RttT “should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.”

That might not resonate with some Democrats, who hear from school leaders [6] they are concerned that a shift from formula-based funding to more competitive grant programs will leave many poorer school districts behind.

But it’s the Republicans now controlling the House of Representatives who present the biggest roadblock to Obama’s proposals.

“We face a crushing burden of debt,” said Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan in the official Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union speech. “The debt will soon eclipse our entire economy and grow to catastrophic levels in the years ahead.”

House Republicans have passed a resolution setting appropriations for the rest of the year at 2008 pre-recession levels, as part of a pledge to cut $100 billion from the budgets of domestic U.S. government agencies.

The vote is largely symbolic, because the actual cuts would have to be made in appropriations bills that would have to clear the Senate, where Democrats still hold a majority. However, it sets up a showdown in which members of both parties will have to convene to hammer out a compromise—and education might not be spared from the cuts that result.

“There are no sacred cows,” said newly appointed House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

Any cuts to federal spending on education or infrastructure would come at a particularly bad time for local communities, many of which already face the prospect of steep cuts in state funding.

A report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, released last month, says the fiscal crisis reshaping the level of services that government can deliver is likely to last at least another three years for many states.

So far, budget deficits are anticipated for at least 15 states, the report said. Among the hardest-hit states are California, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.

In releasing his latest budget proposal, California Gov. Jerry Brown told his state’s lawmakers that “the year ahead will demand courage and sacrifice” as the state faces a deficit projected to hit $25.4 billion over the next 18 months. His proposal combines spending cuts to Medi-Cal, in-home services for the elderly, and higher education with a five-year extension of income, sales, and vehicle taxes.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo demanded shutting 20 percent of state agencies as part of “radical reform” to pull his state out its fiscal crisis. And Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey skipped a $3.1 billion payment to the state’s pension system in a push to cut benefits for public workers, while proposing higher employee contributions and a boost in the retirement age from 62 to 65.

Public education in Texas, meanwhile, is facing billions of dollars in proposed budget cuts that would include slashing arts education, pre-kindergarten programs, and teacher incentive pay as lawmakers take on a massive deficit with the promise of no new taxes.

Texas lawmakers got their first glimpse of what the next state budget might look like on Jan. 18, including a $5 billion cut to public schools, as Republican Gov. Rick Perry and his supporters were dancing at an inaugural celebration.

Texas is facing a $15 billion revenue shortfall, and few corners of state government were spared in the draft proposal for the next two years. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, and Republican leaders have vowed not to raise taxes.

Perry’s budget proposal would shutter four community colleges and generally eliminate financial aid for incoming freshmen and new students. The Texas Grants scholarship program would drop by more than 70,000 students over the next two years.