“The nation that educates its children the best will be the nation that leads the global economy in the 21st century,” Obama said during brief remarks in the White House Rose Garden. President Obama said today the U.S. is engaged with what he termed as an “Education Arms Race” competing with growing nations such as China and India, and cannot afford to lose if it wants the economy to recover.

“We’ve got to make sure that in good times or bad, our families can invest in their children future and in the future of our country,” Obama said. The president called on Congress to extend the credit that covers college tuition of up to $10,000 over four years.

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One of the objections that’s often raised to using test scores in teacher evaluations is that students are not randomly assigned to teachers. A teacher may be assigned a large number of troubled students because she is especially good at helping such students. Comparing her students’ test scores to those of an honors class obviously wouldn’t be fair. Instead, the systems tend to be based on the amount of progress children make over the course of the year, comparing their end-of-year test scores one year with their end-of-year scores the prior year. Read more on The New York Times Blog..

Last Week New York emerged as a clear winner capturing $700 million worth as school grants from the State. Stiff competition had pushed the Legislature to enact changes for a dozen states that helped them secure the money. However, there is a great debate as to whether the Eastern states dominate yet again for reasons beyond outlining the boldest plans for their school systems. A consensus was noted on: Common Geography.

In the two-part grant initiative awarded by the Obama Administration, 11 states who have won major grants are east of Mississippi and others include Florida, Georgia in the South, New York and Massachusetts in the North all embracing the East Coast. Hawaii was the lone geographic exception. Many of rural states do not have the funds or workforce to write sophisticated grant applications. States earned points if they raised their standards and the rigor of standardized tests. Seemingly, still competition rules favored the densely populated Eastern States…..Read more in the New York Times