WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 010 - Education: Children

Yesterday I posted three achievements our President has accomplished over the last three years in regard to college education.  Today I would like to focus on our children.  What has the President done to help your child in the three years he's been in office.  Republicans will tell you, "not a damn thing, this President is a failure at everything,"  but that is simply not the case - that's BS.

President Barack Obama has managed to cover 2 broad policies, 11 funding policies, and 8 targeted actions in regard to our children's education, and future generations.  As hard as it was, he managed to do it with Republicans fighting him every inch of the way.  Remember, they said it from the beginning, their number one priority was to make sure Obama is a one-term President.  And if America fails, Obama fails.

In today's issue I will cover the two broad polices I mentioned earlier, and one in regard to funding.

WTF-26

Created the Race to the Top Fund ($4.35 billion) to reward States that create comprehensive education reform plans.

Authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Race to the Top Assessment Program provides funding to consortia of States to develop assessments that are valid, support and inform instruction, provide accurate information about what students know and can do, and measure student achievement against standards designed to ensure that all students gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in college and the workplace. These assessments are intended to play a critical role in educational systems; provide administrators, educators, parents, and students with the data and information needed to continuously improve teaching and learning; and help meet the President's goal of restoring, by 2020, the nation's position as the world leader in college graduates. 

Through the Race to the Top Assessment Program, the Department awarded two Comprehensive Assessment Systems grants in September 2010.  [Reference-1, Reference-2]

The Obama Administration is committed to reforming America’s public schools to provide every child access to a complete and competitive education.  President Obama recently presented states with an unprecedented challenge and the opportunity to compete in a “Race to the Top” designed to spur systemic reform and embrace innovative approaches to teaching and learning in America’s schools.  Backed by a historic $4.35 billion investment, the reforms contained in the Race to the Top will help prepare America’s students to graduate ready for college and career, and enable them to out-compete any worker, anywhere in the world. [Reference-2]

WTF-27

Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

On February 4, 2009, President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). This legislation marked a new era in children’s coverage by providing states with significant new funding, new programmatic options, and a range of new incentives for covering children through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). One of the clear goals of the legislation is to support states in developing efficient and effective strategies to identify, enroll, and retain health coverage for uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but are not enrolled. CHIPRA also provided flexibility to states to expand health care coverage to children who need it, and tasked the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) with developing standards by which states can measure the quality of the care that children are receiving.

U.S. Census Bureau data show that, in 2008, the uninsured rate among children was at the lowest level since 1987, yet 7.3 million children did not have health insurance coverage that year. [Reference-1, Reference-2]

WTF-28

Provided funding for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools.

"There's a big gap that remains between rural and urban areas because it's just hard to make a business case in rural areas," said Jonathan Adelstein, the agriculture department's rural utilities service administrator, in a conference call with reporters. "Rural areas' future depends upon access to broadband and we're not where we need to be today."

The states that will benefit from the funding are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

As many as one in 10 Americans can't get Internet connections fast enough to engage in such common online activities as watching video or teleconferencing, and two thirds of schools have broadband connections that are too slow to meet their needs, the Commerce Department reported earlier this year. [Reference-1, Reference-2]

As promised, I will come back to this topic in another issue.  Please make sure to read the next issue, Issue No. 011 - Arts and Culture as I continue with
WTF-29
Posted daily or weekly on BLADE 7184 until Election Day!