Will Obama Be the Whole Child President?

Throughout his campaign, President-Elect Obama stressed improving education, and his plan for doing so cuts along a lot of the same lines as ASCD's policy recommendations. Obama pledged to address the lack of funding allocated to fulfill the requirements of NCLB and proposed programs to recruit, prepare, retain, and reward teachers. He also said he would pass legislation to address the dropout crisis.

In a couple months, we'll start to know the direction these proposals will take, but ASCD stands ready to support Obama in his commitment to education. Read more about how President-Elect Obama matches up with ASCD's policy positions in our official statement to the next president.

Campaign K-12 has a rundown of the state races' winners and losers, including controversial ballot measures directly tied to education (in Oregon, one on teacher pay and one on bilingual education), linked to education funding (six states voted on gambling, Massachusetts voted on eliminating the state income tax), and measures not linked to education but emphatically denounced by teachers' unions (California's same-sex marriage ban).

Do you think last night's results were a win for education? How about the races in your state?

Comments

[Dianne Vaez]

I don't know if Obama will be the Whole Child president, but I believe he will be good for public education. He seems to be a reasonable, intelligent man who understands that if the government is going to mandate change, it needs to fund education such that the mandated change can be accomplished. I also think he not only wants every child to succeed, he believes every child can succeed.

[Bill Fenstermaker]

Several months ago I delivered a talk at a conference at Temple University, including a leter to the next president. Please look at it: www.billfnewdeel.com

[Bill Fenstermaker]

In February I presented a talk at a conference at Temple University, which included a Letter to the Next President. You may find this at:

www.billfnewdeel.com

[Rhonda Brown]

I agree that President Elect Barack Obama will bring positive changes to our educational system. His candacy has inspired many at the ground level to include myself. I am ready to make the necessary sacrifices for change. Today, I am filled with the hope and believe we will provide success for all of America's children.

[Martin Atayo]

Mr Barack Obama is both pro-eduction reform
and funding.But whole child learning
in our education system is being carefully
evaluated to be troubling in quality
context of transformation and product
role fulfillment in society.
It is steadily being held that any
whole child learning, if and when,
properly tailored, should never at any
point in one's life, result in any thought
of evil, or elimination of human life
through a harmful weapon. And when it
does happen, it is indicative of failure,
ushering, urgent need for review of process,
system structure and operationability.
Barack Obama is a good man to support
a broad national conference that targets transformation of the whole learner in
readiness for a more sophisticated
next generation society.
Martin Atayo

[O. L. Davis, Jr.]

I'm very excited by the election news. Obama will be a great president. Moreover, I believe that he will attend to educational matters as soon as he can.

However, were he and I talking right now, I would urge that he do two things about federal involvement in education during his first year in office: 1) Put a hold on federal appropriations for education for a period of time (one or two years, perhaps). Simply he and all Americans must work on three priorities for the nation and not until they are cared for should he and Congress consider appropriations for anything until the awful Bush-inspired debt is reduced impressively. 2) Use the bully-pulpit of the Presidency and the Secretary of Education to inspire and to encourage Americans to work with local boards and teachers and their administrators to push for that social justice that is education-related and for efforts that hold the prospect for higher achievement of pupils in the absence of most federal funding.

Rather than his advocacy of new initiatives and funds for American education at this moment, I really hope that he will set a FEW very important goals on which to focus for the first year or so. They include:

1) Work on the economy. Specifically, for example, the US must find ways to reduce the incredible debt that the nation owes to China, Russia, and other countries. The US should forego additional substantial spending until the federal government has made serious payments to reduce the debt that it has incurred during the past years.

2) Get our nation and its troops out of the Middle East and launch efforts to sell peace to the American public in lieu of war and to end efforts to impose democracy onto unwilling peoples.

3) Propose "passable" proposals to fund health care for the millions of Americans who do not have medical/hospitalization insurance.

These are my suggestions. I want Obama to succeed. I want our country to prosper. We must set priorities in our national life just as we must set priorities in our personal lives. The federal government cannot do everything that people want done, that Obama wants to do. But, in some reasonable time, with Obama's leadership and cheerling, other priorities can be set. At this time, education is my choice for addition to the list of things in which our nation should invest. I'm willing to wait until after substantial progress has been made on the FEW great "must" priorities before adding others.

[L Moore]

I have heard Linda Darling-Hammond's name in connection with possibly being named Secretary of Education? Anyone have other names?

[Linda Munk]

Mr. Obama has delivered an appealing message. Now it remains to be seen: can he deliver on his promises? We need to be alert to his cabinet and high level appointments now, as this will tell the tale. Will he do what is right, or what is right now. Change can't and won't happen without new leadership at all levels. And this includes the Congress, who often present the most challenges to reform. I wish him well, and hope that HOPE turns into reality for all Americans.

[k.]

I have great admiration and respect for President Elect Obama. It is my hope that the new president will name an educator as the Secretary of Education. Although there are some who have managed public education I envision a visionary educator to set and monitor American education for the next four years. Please respect educators, naming an educator to this position.

[Kathy]

I am not sure if the new President-elect is the man to do the job. Now is the time for him to really prove himself. If he means what he says he needs to convince me by standing behind all of his rhetoric of the campaign and the catch phrases that he used to get people to believe he is a man of substance. Now prove it. Do what you say you believe in. Until I see it you are just another politician who says what he needs to say in order to get elected and than does what he wants in order to stay in power. I hope this time it will be different. It would be nice if for once someone listened to people who were actually working in the day to day world and not the management end. Our perspective is so very different. Good luck to all of us.