In an address to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, President Barack Obama discussed the downfalls of the current American education system and possible solutions to the growing problems; among the plans is a proposed lengthening of the academic year and more financial incentives for top-performing teachers.

The idea of extra pay for top teachers was negatively received by teachers’ unions across the country, who have firmly resisted such meritocratic policies in the past. President Obama said that a strong focus on early childhood education, which received $5 billion in funding through the recently passed $787 billion stimulus package, is key to recovering from the current financial crisis. According to the President, “education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it is a prerequisite,”.

“In a 21st century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there’s an internet connection, where a child born in Dallas is competing with children in Delhi … education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it is a prerequisite,” - Barack Obama

In order to realize the goals outlines, the President plans to nearly triple educational spending in the 2010 fiscal year; with $81 billion being set aside from the $787bn stimulus package in addition to the $46.2bn from last year, the total budget of the Education Department becomes $127.8 billion. The initiative, which starts with the new fiscal year on October 1, 2010, aims to ensure that all Americans receive a comprehensive education from kindergarten and into the job market, better equipping them to compete in the current globalized economy, Mr. Obama said.

Though, as he joked with reporters, “longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas,” amongst students, it is necessary to provide a better educational infrastructure for Americans. Recent statistics have shown that barely half of U.S. citizens possess a high school diploma, and those who do pursue college have a 50% chance of dropping out. Students, on the whole, are ranked lower in reading and math ability than most of the industrialized world, and it is in these areas in particular that Obama would like to see a strong focus..

The President was not candid in his disapproval of the disparity between abundant resources in the country and a poor outcome of their implementation, and following his Chamber address made an appearance at a Washington conference of top state school officials, during which he urged them to keep persevering.

Of the address, one resounding statement by the President remained: “The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens, and my fellow Americans, we have everything we need to be that nation,”.

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