Protecting the American Dream

It's time to recalibrate boys & girls. This president is effectively splitting the difference between unions and reformers. He seems to say what he means and mean what he says.

This from MSNBC:

Obama: 'We've let our grades slip'

The president takes on unions,

backs teacher merit pay in new plan

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday embraced a new approach to public education that adds up to merit pay for the better teachers and longer days and school years for students.

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These proposals, which constitute the new president's vision of an education system that meets 21st century challenges, were sure to generate loud criticism, particularly from teachers' unions.

Educators oppose charter schools because they divert tax dollars away from traditional public schools.

Merit-based systems for teachers have been anathema to teachers' unions, a powerful force in Obama's Democratic Party.

Obama acknowledged this in his talk to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom," he said, delivering the first major education speech of his presidency. "Too many in the Republican Party have opposed new investments in early education, despite compelling evidence of its importance."

'An economic imperative'But he argued that a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's education system is an economic imperative that can't wait, despite the urgency of the financial crisis and other pressing issues...