Heidi Alexander: “the President of the United States made an important speech this morning. He spoke to the National Urban League…”

“the President of the United States made an important speech this morning. He spoke to the National Urban League Centennial Conference on Education. Every speech a President makes is important, but this speech is especially important, and I commend the President for his courage, for his vision, and for his willingness to undertake the hard work of helping children across this country learn what they need to know and be able to do, and the competence with which he is doing that. Let me be specific about why I say that. No. 1, the President began with teachers. He extolled teachers. He said he wanted to lift them up as high as he could, he wanted them to be on the front pages of magazines, and for us to dignify them in every way we could. But he didn't back away from tackling the most important and the most difficult challenge that any of us who have dealt with education reform have found; that is, how do we reward outstanding teachers.”