President Obama Calls for Replacing No Child Left Behind This Year

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama discusses his recent visit to Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tennessee to deliver the commencement address. The school was the winner of the administration’s 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge and has significantly improved student achievement levels and graduation rates.

In the video, the President talks about the Race to the Top program, saying, “We need to reward the reforms that are driven not by Washington but by principals and teachers and parents. That’s how we will make progress in education; not from the top down but from the bottom up.”

On NCLB, the president says, “We need to promote reform that gets results while encouraging communities to figure out what’s best for their kids. That’s why it’s so important that Congress replace No Child Left Behind this year so schools have that flexibility. Reform just can’t wait.”