The Beginning of Education Reform

We knew going into this year that education will be a big issue for the White House. The President was big on it during the State of the Union address.

Then, this week, he chose to make his first comments about the 2012 budget in a classroom.

And, he met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers tasked with overhauling "No Child Left Behind."

No doubt, it will be difficult to do this year.

Here's the read-out from the White House on the meeting earlier this week in the Oval Office:

"Today, President Obama had a productive meeting with Sens. Tom Harkin, Mike Enzi, Jeff Bingaman, and Lamar Alexander. The President reiterated his strong belief that the nation’s economic future is being decided every day in classrooms across the country, and that reforming education through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is a key priority this year.

During the bipartisan meeting, the President discussed his desire to find common ground on the need to re-define the federal role in education, so that it is more flexible and better focused on responsibility, reform, and results. He discussed raising expectations for students and schools, boosting teacher effectiveness, and providing greater flexibility to support innovation and improvements throughout public education – including fostering a Race to the Top in our schools and providing incentives and rewards to help students make significant strides and succeed.

The President looks forward to continuing this vital, bipartisan work to ensure America’s students have the skills they need to out-educate and out-compete the world and win the future."