Obama School Plan 'Nails' Problem, Says Weingarten; Likes Incentive Pay Plan
By DAVID SIMS
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama gave a major speech on public education Sept. 9 focusing on higher standards and pay for Teachers that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said "hit the nail on the head."

BARACK OBAMA: Puts emphasis on Teacher quality.

She singled out Mr. Obama's stance on incentive pay for Teachers, which she described as "supporting differentiated compensation plans that are developed with Teachers, not imposed on them."

'Pay Them for Success'

In his speech, Mr. Obama said that, "when our Teachers succeed in making a real difference in our children's lives, we should reward them for it by finding new ways to increase Teacher pay that are developed with Teachers ...we're seeing Teachers and school boards coming together to design performance pay plans."

But the Democratic nominee for President also affirmed he would look to tighten the rules on Teacher tenure, saying "we also need to give every child the assurance that they'll have the Teacher they need to be successful. That means setting a firm standard — Teachers who are doing a poor job will get extra support, but if they still don't improve, they'll be replaced."

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Likes incentive pay plan.

Ms. Weingarten said, "The AFT wholeheartedly supports programs that hold all of us to high standards, including Teachers, parents and elected officials."

Mr. Obama also cited one area where he and Teacher unions are not in agreement, saying that he would double the funding for charter schools nationwide. He acknowledged the issues for-profit charter schools had and said he'd "work with all our nation's governors to hold all our charter schools accountable ... charter schools that are successful will get the support they need to grow. And charters that aren't will get shut down."

'Give Public Schools Resources'

While Ms. Weingarten applauded that standard, she added that "regular public schools, where most of our students attend, need the programs and resources to close the achievement gap once and for all."

Senator Obama also called for major reform of No Child Left Behind, saying the Federal Government needed to "help our Teachers and Principals develop a curriculum and assessments that teach our kids to become more than just good test-takers." However, he did not propose scrapping the law altogether, instead proposing to "fix [its] failures." He added, "we must provide the funding we were promised, and give our states the resources they need, and finally meet our commitment to special education."

Ms. Weingarten previously called for the scrapping of NCLB in her inaugural address as AFT president in July, when she said, "NCLB does not work ... [it] has become a blunt instrument for attacking, not assisting, our public schools."

As president of the United Federation of Teachers, she strongly supported U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton but switched her support to Senator Obama after he won the Democratic nomination. She reinforced his criticism of Republican rival John McCain's position on education, saying, "Senator McCain, when he bothers to talk about education at all, would rather demonize Teachers and repeat calls for private school vouchers that have no track record in raising student achievement."