Video: 11-year-old reporter, Damon Weaver, interviews President Obama

Student Reporter Damon Weaver was invited to come to the White House to talk about education with President Obama

President Barack Obama's Weekly Radio Address

"These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air – they are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long: the high cost of health care and our dependence on oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit." source: WhiteHouse.gov

President Obama on Education Reform

source: Organizing for America

by Christopher Hass - Tuesday March 10 2009 11:45:33 AM

In the budget outline that he delivered to Congress last month, President Obama identified three key areas that are critical to our long-term economic health: Health Care, Energy, and Education. This morning, President Obama delivered remarks on education reform at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 19th Annual Legislative Conference at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center. He stressed the importance of education and stressed the connection between education and economic success, saying "let there be no doubt: the future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens."

And yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us. In 8th grade math, we’ve fallen to 9th place. Singapore’s middle-schoolers outperform ours three to one. Just a third of our thirteen and fourteen-year olds can read as well as they should. And year after year, a stubborn gap persists between how well white students are doing compared to their African American and Latino classmates. The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children – and we cannot afford to let it continue.

... The time for finger-pointing is over. The time for holding ourselves accountable is here. What’s required is not simply new investments, but new reforms. It is time to expect more from our students. It is time to start rewarding good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. It is time to demand results from government at every level. It is time to prepare every child, everywhere in America, to out-compete any worker, anywhere in the world. It is time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career. We have accepted failure for too long. Enough. America’s entire education system must once more be the envy of the world.

And that is exactly what the budget I am submitting to Congress has begun to achieve.

The President outlined five key areas for reform:

1. Raising the quality of early learning programs
2. Encouraging better standards and assessments
3. Recruiting, preparing, and rewarding outstanding teachers
4. Promoting innovation and excellence in America’s schools
5. Providing every American with a quality higher education – either college or technical training

In his speech, President Obama also noted:

The source of America’s prosperity, then, has never been merely how ably we accumulate wealth, but how well we educate our people. This has never been more true than it is today. In a 21st century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there’s an internet connection; where a child born in Dallas is competing with children in Delhi; where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know – education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it is a prerequisite.

... So let there be no doubt: the future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens – and my fellow Americans, we have everything we need to be that nation. We have the best universities and the most renowned scholars. We have innovative principals, passionate teachers, gifted students, and parents whose only priority is their child’s education. We have a legacy of excellence, and an unwavering belief that our children should climb higher than we did.

Read the President's full remarks on education reform, as prepared for delivery . .