Obama: We need to see results in the classroom

Jul 29, 2010 — USA Today

Former law professor Barack Obama became a policy defense attorney today, arguing on behalf of his education policy to the National Urban League.

USA TODAY education writer Greg Toppo provides us this dispatch:

President Obama responded to civil rights groups' criticisms of his education campaign head-on Thursday, telling the National Urban League, "What's not working for black kids and Hispanic kids and Native American kids across this country is the status quo."

This week, several groups signed on to a letter criticizing Obama's $5 billion Race to the Top grant competition for leaving out some minority kids. They complained that not all states will win shares of the grant -- two states, Delaware and Tennessee, got money in the first round, and about a dozen will benefit from the second round this fall.

Obama said the groups' charge that Race to the Top isn't targeted at minority kids "is absolutely false because lifting up quality for all our children -- black, white, Hispanic -- that is the central premise."

Obama said states can't win a piece of the grant "unless you've got a plan to deal with those schools that are failing and those young people who aren't doing well."

Responding to criticism that the law could unfairly target urban teachers, he said he's "110% behind our teachers. But all I'm asking in return -- as a president, as a parent and as a citizen -- is some measure of accountability. So even as we applaud teachers for their hard work, we've got to make sure we're seeing results in the classroom."

Education, Obama said, is "an issue that I believe will largely determine not only African-American success, but the success of our nation in the 21st century."