Taking Stock of Educational Progress Under Obama
As they prepare to leave office, members of President Barack Obama’s cabinet are beginning to file their exit memos. Partially a chance to take credit for progress made and partially a final opportunity to call for changes in policy they’ve yet to push through, the memos offer insight into what the administration’s top officials think they have—and haven’t—accomplished over the last eight years.
On Thursday, Education Secretary John King delivers his memo. Entitled “Giving Every Student a Fair Shot: Progress Under the Obama Administration’s Education Agenda,” the 14-page document is divided into two sections: One outlines notable progress and the other lays a framework for sustaining that progress.
Clearly, some of what King touts as “progress” (say, grant competitions), others (for instance, ) see as mistakes or failures. But, as a whole, the memo paints an initial picture of what the administration—and King, personally—would like its
