SOTU: Schools & education opportunity
Making progress through executive action
Connecting 20 million students in 15,000 schools to the best technology to enrich and personalize K-12 education. Technology has the potential to transform education in America, allowing students to learn more, to do so at their own pace, and to develop the knowledge and skills employers demand. The President announced his ConnectED initiative in June to make this opportunity real for all American students, starting with his goal of connecting 99% of students to next-generation connectivity within five years. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) answered the President’s call to action last August and announced efforts to modernize and expand the E-Rate program, to bring it into the modern era, and more fully meet the needs of schools and libraries as they connect high-speed broadband. In his State of the Union address, the President announced that with the support of the FCC, we will make a major down-payment on his goal, connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years – without adding a dime to the deficit. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon are answering the call, and in the coming weeks, the President will highlight further details of new programs and partnerships that accelerate his vision of technology-enriched classrooms across America.
Redesigning high schools to teach the real-world skills that kids need. Too few of America’s students are meaningfully engaged by their academic experience while in high school. Many high school graduates lack exposure to learning that links their work in school to college and careers—especially in the critically important fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Moreover, many of America’s international competitors offer students a more rigorous and relevant education in their middle and high school years. The President has called for a comprehensive effort to rethink the high school experience, challenging schools to scale up innovative models that will redesign and personalize teaching and learning for students, so that they receive the rigorous and relevant education needed to graduate and transition into postsecondary learning and adulthood. This year, the Administration will take the first step toward that goal by announcing the winners of a $100 million competition for Youth CareerConnect – grants that will provide high school students with the industry-relevant education and skills they need for a successful future – as part of its effort to ensure that high schools prepare students for college and careers.
Increasing college opportunity and graduation. A child born into the bottom 20% of the income scale has a less than 1-in-20 shot of making it to the top if they do not go to college. Earning a college degree changes those odds to closer to 1-in-5. That’s why earlier this year, the President and First Lady hosted a first-ever White House Call to Action on College Opportunity with over 150 new commitments from colleges, universities, businesses, philanthropists, and non-profits to improve college access and success for low-income students. The President is calling for a continued mobilization throughout 2014 to foster new commitments to action to help more low-income students access and succeed in college, including from additional colleges and universities, businesses, nonprofits and other leaders.
Making college more affordable for American families. Higher education is the single most important investment students can make in their own futures. At the same time, students are taking on increasing amounts of debt to pay for it. That’s why since taking office, President Obama has made historic investments in college affordability, increasing the maximum Pell Grant award for working and middle class families by more than $900, creating the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and enacting effective student loan reforms eliminating bank subsidies and making college more affordable. In August, President Obama outlined an ambitious new agenda, including the development of a new system of college ratings to incentivize colleges to focus on affordability and value and to help students and families make better college choices. Because higher education leaders across the country are already finding new ways to help students learn more at lower cost, the agenda includes partnering with college and universities, entrepreneurs, researchers, and thought leaders from the education and technology fields to help empower students and families with the tools and resources to help them make informed decisions about going to and paying for college and to support innovations and technologies that can lead to breakthroughs on college cost and quality. This year the President will continue pursing executive actions to spur the development, validation, and scaling-up of these cutting-edge innovations.
Continuing to work with Congress
Making High-Quality Preschool Available to Children All Across America. To succeed in the 21st century, we must have the most dynamic, educated workforce in the world; that education has to start early in life. President Obama has laid out a bold vision to expand access to high-quality pre-school to every four-year old in America and improve access to voluntary home visiting programs and other services for our youngest children. This year, the President worked with Congress to enact a down-payment on this vision by reversing funding cuts to Head Start to provide critical early education to our nation’s children, launching new Early Head-Start Child Care Partnerships to expand access to high-quality infant and toddler care for tens of thousands of additional children and expanding access to high-quality public preschool programs through Race to the Top.
Preparing America’s Youth to Graduate Ready for College and Careers, by Transforming our High Schools. In his 2013 State of the Union address, the President laid out a new vision for America’s high schools, and he has proposed dedicating new resources at the Department of Education to scale up models that personalize learning and focus on college and career exploration for students, so that students graduate better equipped for the demands of our high-tech economy.