Obama's New Teachers Competition to Focus on Teacher Quality

This from the Huffington Post:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday spelled out details of a proposed new $5 billion Race to the Top-style competition focused on improving teacher quality.

Among the changes the administration is seeking: higher teaching salaries, compensation tied to performance and more selective and improved teaching colleges.

 

The proposed contest was included in the budget proposal President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Monday. It will probably face obstacles in the gridlocked Congress, where some Republicans have complained of federal overreach and overlapping programs in education.

 

Race to the Top, Obama's signature education initiative, already has awarded more than $5 billion in competitive grants to states willing to enact certain changes favored by the administration.

 

The proposed competition would focus on both improving the quality of the existing teaching force and on better training and recruitment of future teachers. Already, some states are enacting some of the changes the Education Department wants, such as awarding tenure based on teacher performance, instead of primarily on seniority...

Along with the proposed contest, Duncan announced what the Education Department called the RESPECT Project, which stands for Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching. Through it, it says it wants to work with teachers, schools, districts, unions and education organization to spark a national discussion about improving teaching.

 

"Our goal is to work with educators in rebuilding their profession, and to elevate the teacher voice in shaping federal, state and local education policy," Duncan said...