WASHINGTON — Challenging civil rights organizations and teachers’ unions that have criticized his education policies, President Barack Obama said Thursday that students who are members of minority groups have the most to gain from overhauling the nation’s schools.
“We have an obligation to lift up every child in every school in this country, especially those who are starting out furthest behind,” Obama told the centennial convention of the National Urban League.
The Urban League has been a vocal critic of Obama’s education policies, most notably the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” program that awards grants to states based on their plans for innovative education changes. A report released earlier this week by eight civil rights groups, including the Urban League, says federal data show that just 3 percent of the nation’s black students and less than 1 percent of Hispanic students are affected by the first round of the administration’s “Race to the Top” competition.
Obama pushed back Thursday, arguing that students who are members of minority groups are the ones who have been hurt the most by the status quo.
Obama said the goal isn’t to fire or admonish teachers, but to create a culture of accountability. He pinned some of the criticism on a resistance to change.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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