I hope you had the chance to hear the President’s Inauguration Speech today. This address has often been pivotal in American history. Jefferson’s, Lincoln’s second, and Kennedy’s are all very influential inauguration speeches that helped to change the shape of our country. If you didn’t see it, the full text and video of the President’s Inauguration speech is online.
I was glad to see the President speak about education. Here are some excerpts as I culled the text over:
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Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.
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No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.
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We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher.
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Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.
The themes are familiar but important. We need to emphasize STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), we should respect those who may not have grown up in America but want to contribute to our society, and we need to keep our children safe in schools.
What will the future hold for the next four years? Will NCLB be overturned and ESEA be reauthorized? What is the status of federal funding for education? How will Common Core and the resulting assessments shape our nation given that 45 states will be in curricular and assessment unity? Many of us will be watching and trying to influence.
