Obama's Address to Congress

On Tuesday night’s address to Congress, President Obama used the opportunity to hammer home a theme that was prominent in his campaign: Parent involvement in education. Here’s what he said during the speech:

“In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a parent, for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences, or help with homework, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, read to their child. I speak to you not just as a president, but as a father, when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home. That is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. That's an American issue.” [link]

The GreatSchools team is thrilled with this type of message to the American people coming from our new president. After all, an involved parent is the leading indicator of a child’s success in school — above any other element — and it is clear that improving education is a shared responsibility among government, schools, teachers, kids and parents.

Do you think that President Obama is addressing the right themes with respect to overhauling our educational system? I’m interested to hear from you.

Comments

[Vish Goda on February 27, 2009 at 09:16 PM]

Hi Bill,

There are so many options and activities for parents to get involved in that they do need sites like GreatSchools to empower them to stay involved in a productive manner.

Just as GreatSchools is about empowering parents to help their children in their education, we at CareerTales ( www.careerTales.net ) have built a forum for empowering the parents to bring out the hidden gem in their children.

12 years of standardized education tends to standardize a child's thinking as well. Children become focused on the same goals, pursuing similar objectives and influenced by popular trends. Its only when a person reaches their late 20s or 30s that we start thinking about what really motivates us - but by then we are already caught up in the thick of everyday life.

At CareerTales, we have tried to help parents and children explore the opportunities and life experiences of their neighbors, coaches, family friends and strangers through the middle and high school days and compile their own personal handbook of golden rules and best practices. By the time they have to make critical career and academic decisions, they have regained their belief in themselves and their natural talents and they have discovered fulfilling livelihoods around everything that fascinates them.

They become more passionate and less desperate.

Please explore the site at www.careertales.net and let us know your thoughts. We are open to collaborating with GreatSchools at any level and together I believe we can truly fulfill President Obama's promise to the nation.

Vish Goda

[Brooke on March 18, 2009 at 06:24 PM]

I wanted to let you know about the donations to high-need schools that Tim Ferriss is initiating. It costs nothing, he is just trying to spread the word:
http://bit.ly/oOiMk. For every new Twitter follower in the next two weeks, Tim Ferriss will donate $1 to DonorsChoose.org, and an anonymous supporter will match $2, for a total of $3 to U.S. public school classrooms per follower.

http://bit.ly/oOiMk

It's free, it's a great cause, spread the word.
Brooke