Obama stresses the need to turn around the dropout epidemic

President Barack Obama on Monday cited the remarkable turnarounds of two schools — each of which went from graduating a minority of students to graduating nearly all of them — as he pushed for changes in the nation's 10-year-old No Child Left Behind law.
Speaking at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Va., Obama applauded the efforts of students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members who helped reverse a pattern of failure at Bruce Randolph School in Denver and Taft High School in Cincinnati.

It wasn't long ago that Bruce Randolph, where 95 percent of students are eligible for federal meal benefits, was the state's worst middle school. Last year the reinvented 6-12 school graduated 97 percent of its first class of seniors — and 87 percent of those graduates were accepted to college.
It was less than a decade ago that Taft was graduating just one in five of its students. It was recreated as an "information technology" magnet and today graduates 95 percent of its students.
Obama credits those who stopped caring about themselves and started caring about their students.
 "Instead of getting caught up in these old, stale debates, people began to agree that, you know what, we need both more money and more reform," the president said. "We need more resources for the schools, but we’ve got to reorganize how our schools are doing business in order to assure success for our young people." 
Now, Obama said, it's time "to build on these successes across America.  We know what can work."
But first, he said, No Child Left Behind must be reformed.
"Instead of measuring students based on whether they’re above or below an arbitrary bar, we need to set better standards to make sure our students are meeting one clear goal — they’re graduating ready for college and ready for a career," he said.
"We are a place that believes every child, no matter where they come from, can grow up to be anything they want," he said. "That’s who we are.  That’s the commitment we make to the next generation. And I’m confident that if we fix No Child Left Behind, if we continue to reform American education, continue to invest in our children’s future, that’s the America we will always be."