A Common Simplification of President Obama's Education Reform Plan

In the discussion of President Obama's plan for education reform, most people immediately jump to the hot topic of lengthening the school year, which, while it may be the most controversial, is not the only matter that Obama's plan includes. In addition to lengthening the school year, Obama also proposed:

• Lengthening the school day
• Beginning a process to rid schools of unproductive or unsuccessful teachers
• Increasing the number of charter schools

which are productive and smart beginning steps for education reform. The first two matters: lengthening the school day and year seem to be almost a cop out of a solution when read by themselves, and are a quanitity opposed to quality solution. Basically, lengthening amount of time that students are in school doesn't matter if students aren't receiving quality education while they are there. However, Obama's plan redeems its self with its next to main goals, to rid schools of unproductive or unsuccessful teachers and to increase the number of charter schools.

Firing teachers who are unsuccessful opens up teaching positions for teachers who are successful. Key word being unsuccessful, as it is nearly impossible to express who are bad teachers as more than a euphemism. Therefore, to base around the firing and hiring cycle of teachers has to hinge on an appraisal of success. However much teachers hate to teach to tests, and however much students hate standardized testing, it appears that at least at first, we're going to have to base our education system around standardized testing and test scores. Once this has been accomplished, teachers' creativity can be allowed to function as it should. Unfortunately, that method just hasn't worked so far.

The last order of business in Obama's plan is increasing the number of charter schools in the United States. For those who do not know, Charter Schools are schools that recieve money from the government though taxes like public schools, but are allowed to function more freely than public schools, without statues such as state or standardized testing. Most likely, the Obama administration is attempting to steer money and enrollment towards Charter Schools because they are effective and successful, otherwise, they would be completely obsolete and extinct at this point. I mentioned in the above paragraph and idealized method of using creative teachers who are not required to teach to standardized testing. Charter Schools are the kind of idealized environment which I was eluding to.

In conclusion, I would have to admit, that while rather haltingly, I do have to support Obama's Plan for Education Reform. There seems to be a sort of repulsion and fear of change in reference to education, and more specifically school year and day length. The first step of reform is change, without changing anything, we would not be able to reform our education system. Will this be a warm-welcomed change? No, probably not, but as of right now our education system is not producing the results that we need it to for it to succeed for America to competitive in the World Market. Without reforming at all, we can't hope to change our influence in the World Market.