Obama’s Record Backs Teachers, Building Trades

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/08/14/obamas-record-backs-teachers-building-trades/

by Seth Michaels, Aug 14, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama has pledged to fight for working families, and he has the record and the policy proposals to back it up.

Check out new fact sheets that spell out what Obama would do as president in two crucial areas: education and the building trades.

When it comes to education, Obama has a record of supporting full funding for No Child Left Behind, increased special education funding and expanding Pell Grants to enable more students to attend college.

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/obama.cfm

He supports forgiving student loans for teachers and opposes taking away funds from the public school system through private voucher programs.


Obama’s education plan includes:


* More funding for early childhood education and Head Start, so children are ready for school.
* Reforming and fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act so it supports, rather than punishes, schools that need help.
* Providing scholarships, mentoring and training to help recruit and retain teachers.
* Supporting after-school activities and special education.
* Helping make college more accessible for all families through grants, loans, tax credits and full funding for community colleges.

Obama has earned the endorsement of the AFT and the School Administrators union for his strong support of public education.


He also will support good jobs in the building and construction industry. As a church-based community organizer, Obama helped neighborhoods recover after being devastated by steel mill closings, so he understands the importance of protecting workers and making sure they have good jobs.

FULL story at link.

Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

[femmocrat]

1. I hope he dropped that "merit pay" idea.

It was not at all well received at the NEA convention last year. I haven't heard him mention it much since then, except as an enticement to get experienced teachers into the really tough schools.

Rewarding teachers based on student achievement is very unpopular among teachers.