You can either visit http://action.ececonsortium.org/site/R?i=kmfJibU9JC_2OrVQIkpKOA.. ,

or send an email to info@ececonsortium.org

Watch this video about this issue:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk-z_Sy7tvU&feature=player_profilepage

President Obama listed a couple of interesting points in his State of The Union Address.  President Obama has realized that the No Child Left Behind Act is just that an ACT.  This act was first introduced by President Bush in 2002, the government had high hopes that this program would be the one that would bring Americans schools and education to where it needs to be.  However, eight years later and only a little proof that this act was working, President Obama has decided to replace the act with Race To The Top program.  President Obama states “Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future — if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas — then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.”  Yes, sir I totally agree with this statement.  We really need to sit down and think about the future of not just the nation but our own children.  Our children are in a whole new world, one that is totally different then what we grew up in. 

The Race to the Top is hitting four specific areas:
1. Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy

 2. Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction

 3. Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and 4. Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

Awards in Race to the Top will go to States that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform. Race to the Top winners will help trail-blaze effective reforms and provide examples for States and local school districts throughout the country to follow as they too are hard at work on reforms that can transform our schools for decades to come.The president advises the teachers, parents, and communities to help with the Race to the Top program.  He states that “Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than 1 percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. And these standards were developed, by the way, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that’s more flexible and focused on what’s best for our children.”