President Obama and Education

President Obama isn’t in favor of providing public money for vouchers, but he is in favor of high-performing charter schools. He would like all states to accept the Common Core Standards for mathematics and English in order: (1) to make education more consistent for students who move to different states and (2) to create more reliable assessments. Obama took college aid funding from private banks and had the government distribute loans directly to students and provided funding to some states to implement “a broader range of assessments that can evaluate higher-order skills, including students’ abilities to use technology, conduct research, engage in scientific investigations, solve problems, and present and defend their ideas.” Race to the Top money became available both for creation of Common Core Standards and improvements in preschool education. During Obama’s administration there was increased funding for programs related to STEM teachers and courses and funding to experiment with the best systems for teacher evaluation and merit pay.