Obama Spend Our Money Wisely

The hands of one of our star Robotic Team members. He's not a shining star in calculus but I know his interest in robotics and engineering will more than make up for this. My money is on him to be a big success.

Look at the intensity on the face of the younger boy as he competes in the Lego competition.

This Lego Robot automatically took a picture. It was fascinating to watch.

The competition.

This teacher gave up his weekend to work with his young students.

President Obama is promising parents and their kids that his administration will help them have better teachers in improved schools so U.S. students can make up for lost ground against youngsters in foreign countries. Once again, he is saying teachers are the only variable in failing schools. He is calling for states to adopt standards the ensure students are ready for college or a career, rather than the grade-level proficiency which is the focus of the current law.

Before he starts writing all these new fancy standards, he needs to take a look at where kids are now. High school students that can barely read or do arithmetic are graduating and going on to college. If he really wants to fix these things he needs to begin by talking to the teachers who are out in the field every day.

Today, I had the privilege of attending the Robotics competition at Javitz Center. I watch children from elementary school through high school intently solving problems, and working as a part of a team with their machines and their Lego's. My school had received donations from various organizations such as NASA, to complete their work, but the money they were given was not enough. Instead of spending all this money on writing standards, I propose giving the money to schools to allow the youngsters to develop a real hands on interest in the field of engineering. These kids need to see a reason for learning math and learning science, the reason only this hands on activity can provide. Use this money to pay the dedicated teachers who work with them. The teachers in my school got paid for 20 hours but they put in close to 200 hours helping our Robotics team succeed. As I walked around the room, I saw many teachers like ours, working just as hard or harder.