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Senator Obama emphasizes ?zero to five? efforts for infants, and moving states toward voluntary, universal pre-school. He proposes quadrupling funding for early Head Start.

He supports the goals of No Child Left Behind, but recognizes that it?s under-funded. He calls for the ?reform? of NCLB, and using accountability measures to ?support? struggling schools, not ?punish? them. I applaud his recognition that NCLB?s goals are credible, and the basic structure of the law is worth keeping; some candidates call for the outright abandonment of the program.

The Senator would fund district-level initiatives to stem the tide of dropouts, double funding for after school programs, and would address the achievement gap through summer instruction and partnerships between schools and community groups.

To recruit and retain talented teachers, he plans to recruit math and science graduates to become teachers. To bring more teachers into the classroom, he would offer scholarships in exchange for teaching four years in high need locations. He also calls for funding to provide paid planning time for teachers (a critical element of mentoring new teachers, but is often over-looked by policy-makers, and often underappreciated by school administrators, who often pull teachers out of planning periods to compensate for teacher shortages), and providing districts with funding to design financial rewards for excellent teachers.

As for college access, Obama would make the first $4,000 of college education free through a tax credit. Critically, the Senator?s plan would provide access to the tax credit at the time of enrollment (rather than when taxes are paid, which is after a student has enrolled). This is critical as students that can?t afford college without the subsidy need those subsidies at the time of enrollment; not six months later at tax time.

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