Obama's educational policy for have-nots

By Lee Kyung-man

Taking a look at former U.S. President Barack Obama’s speeches about his educational policies, efforts for the have-nots are notable.

Under the slogan “The opening of a new era,” Obama Administration planned to bring great change to education. It clarified its strong commitment to reform by referring to education as integral to economic measures.

Preschool and early childhood education

Children in early childhood education programs are more likely to score higher in tests, graduate from high school, attend college, have a career and have a higher income than those who have not experienced any childhood education. Based on this data, Obama sought to improve the Head Start program and invested $5 billion (5.63 trillion won) in the “Early Head Start” plan. He also stressed that a new evaluation policy should be introduced to allow schools to dismiss teachers if they do not provide quality service and emphasized the need to maintain a high quality of education overall.

Graduation initiative and economic recovery

The U.S. was already facing a bad economy from the beginning of the Obama Administration, one that was not generating or sustaining enough new, well-paying jobs. Educational reform was necessary to turn this around. The number of jobs in the future that will require at least an associate’s degree will be double the number of jobs requiring no college experience. Obama set the goal of having the highest percentage of college graduates among countries in the world by 2020. Also, he recognized that parents needed to be responsible for helping their children take their first steps toward educational and economic success. This meant that their children’s success should be the result of hard work and discipline.

Race to the Top

This was regarded as the Obama Administration’s most important policy. First, it recognized the need for states to adopt more challenging standards and better assessments to measure the ability of students to prepare for their future. Second, it advocated the use of cutting-edge data systems to track each student’s academic progress and link the data to the teachers. Third, it was designed to encourage states to show commitment in turning around their lowest performing schools. The “Race to the Top” initiative was a strategy for the development of education equality. The premise was to raise education quality for children of all races and the results of this strategy have been positive and powerful. States have reformed their education systems by setting higher standards and committing to outstanding education in order to be eligible for grants.

Helping students and families pay for college

For certain low-income groups including African-Americans and Hispanics, it was not easy to get a college degree. Through the provision of family tax credits and low interest rates for student loans, the burden was reduced for lower-income families. Hence, the Obama Administration pursued a policy in which not just a few had the chance to succeed, but everyone.

Lee is an English teacher at Daewon Girls’ High School in Seoul.