As Barack Obama takes action to kickstart the US economy, it is easy for commentators to overlook domestic policies like education. But this is a president who sees investment and reform of America’s education system as a key part of his strategy.
The new president’s approach is clearly progressive and builds on earlier thinking by the US Democrats and Labour since the early 1990s. To him, education is both the route to social justice and a vital investment in America’s future in a changing world.
Obama’s description of the importance of education in the 21st century could have been uttered by any Labour minister since 1997. ‘Education is now the currency of the information age. It’s no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success – it’s a pre-requisite,’ he said, as he made his first education announcement earlier this year.
And the policies Obama wants to use to improve early years education, schools and universities also have a familiar ring to them. He has signalled his support for working with professionals to improve services and increasing accountability, encouraging innovation and bringing in new providers.
This passion for education reflects Obama’s own experience and is grounded in his early career and links to Chicago – a city which is turning round a legacy of underachievement in education.
As a community organiser he saw the consequences of struggling urban schools and low aspirations. And he was a state senator and a US senator as Chicago was driving the modernisation of its education system.
From the mid-1990s the city drove through a reform programme to raise standards. The management of the city’s schools was modernised, underachieving schools were closed, new types of school were encouraged and a major campaign was launched to recruit more teachers and to improve the quality of teaching.
There is now a push to open 100 new schools in Chicago by 2010. This includes so-called charter schools, small secondaries and magnet schools which have strengths in particular subjects and share their expertise with other neighbouring schools – rather like specialist schools. Parents and the wider community have been encouraged to get more involved in education, with schools becoming the centre of their community.
Since becoming president, Obama has appointed the head of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan, as education secretary, after considering other reformers.
A series of priorities have been set which have similarities with reform in Chicago and also have parallels in the UK. The new president’s first major education announcement pledged significant extra resources for early years education through Head Start, the American programme which was used as a model for Labour’s Sure Start.
Plans for more assistance for young people going to university have also been announced. Obama’s policy on expanding higher education, like Labour’s, includes improving financial support for students and expanding outreach schemes designed to encourage more young people from low-income families to apply for places.
These are just the first in a series of initiatives. We can expect to hear more about investing in teacher recruitment to attract more of the brightest graduates into the profession as well as helping mid-career professionals move into teaching. And Obama has talked about expanding the number of charter
schools.
There is also the knotty issue of testing. Obama has talked about his concerns about teaching to the test – but teachers need to know which pupils are falling behind and need more help. There may be some scope for improving the testing regime – without losing the ability to measure progress.
However, President Obama wields less direct power over US schools than British ministers. Time will tell whether he is remembered almost as much for his school reform as for his economic rescue package.