US Secretary of Education wants to 'raise the bar', create new assessment tests

HOW CAN WE THINK ABOUT RAISING THE BAR WHEN WE CAN'T EVEN AFFORD TEACHERS TO TEACH THESE CHILDREN.TAKE THAT $350 MILLION AND PAY FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEARNING AIDS: BOOKS, COMPUTERS, PE TEACHERS, SCHOOL NURSES, AND LOWER THE PRICE OF SCHOOL OF SCHOOL LUNCHES! RAISE THE BAR!IT STARTS AT HOME AND FINISHES WITH A COMPETENT AND HAPPY TEACHER.

He is all wet. The biggest problem our schools have is family or the lack thereof. These kids are left to raise themselves and get no support from home. The adults in their lives will not spend time even to read with their grade schoolers. They do not expect their children to do homework and in most cases even their classwork, so the kids don't and the teachers can not make them. I am the husband of a teacher and can give you numerous examples. Talk to teachers and you will see. Our politicians do not wish to see the real problem because they will loose votes if they were to put the blame on our society and take away all that cheap baby sitting.

Read the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution. Washington has absolutely no power or right to set educational standards. They need to butt out, and what we need are a few governors to grow backbones and tell them to go to blazes.

"The money will come from the Federal Education Department's $5 billion fund to reward states that adopt innovations the Obama administration supports." >So, if a project is presented that makes sense but isn't Obama-supported, it won't get funding. I guess a project that teaches children the value of hard work versus relying on the government for a handout wouldn't be funded. It's obvious that Obama and his cronies want everyone to look to the government for their every need.

You want to raise the bar? Quit teaching the kids morals and start teaching them math and science. Parents, you teach your kids morals, that is your job.