I just happened to hear about President Obama's speech on education reform. He's certainly talking a good line: rewarding teacher merit with pay raises, for example, and increasing the number of charter schools, even making them available where they are currently not permitted.
Somehow I find myself a little skeptical about it. The teacher unions, which Obama admits he "owes", have adamantly opposed both of these ideas. And in Chicago, his old stomping grounds, Obama was a consistent and loyal supporter of the aforementioned unions. And his appointee for the Dept of Education hails from Chicago, which has a ... shall we say less than stellar reputation for actually educating kids.
So, while I'd love to see these changes happen (some others he mentioned I'm not so enthusiastic about) I would be very surprised to see any substantive positive changes.
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