WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is leaning hard on the nation’s schools, using the promise of $4 billion in federal aid — and the threat of withholding it — to strong-arm the education establishment to accept more charter schools and performance pay for teachers.
The pressure campaign has been underway for months as Education Secretary Arne Duncan travels the country delivering a blunt message to state officials who have resisted change for decades: Embrace reform or risk being shut out.
“What we’re saying here is, if you can’t decide to change these practices, we’re not going to use precious dollars that we want to see creating better results; we’re not going to send those dollars there,” Obama said in an Oval Office interview Wednesday. “And we’re counting on the fact that, ultimately, this is an incentive, this is a challenge for people who do want to change.”
Today, Obama will officially announce the “Race to the Top,” a competition for $4.35 billion in grants. He wants states to use funds to ease limits on charter schools, tie teacher pay to student achievement and move for the first time toward common academic standards. It is part of a broader effort to improve school achievement with a $100 billion increase in education funding, more money for community colleges and an increase in Pell Grants for college students.
In his effort, Obama must try to carefully bring along the teacher unions, a key Democratic constituency that so far has praised the president’s goals but remains wary of the threat to members’ paychecks and the promise of tenure.
“There are going to be elements within the teachers union where they’re just resistant to change, because people inherently are resistant to change,” Obama said during the 20-minute interview. “Teachers aren’t any different from any politicians or corporate CEOs. There are going to be certain habits that have been built up that they don’t want to change.”
Already, some legislatures, eager for a share of the massive federal money pot, have begun clearing the way for more charter schools and taking other steps to show they are pro-reform.
The effort has helped Obama enlarge the federal role in an arena dominated by state and local governments, but there is deep skepticism about his approach.
Congressional Republicans say the initiative, coupled with another $650 million for school reform under Duncan’s control, is wasteful.
