Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

While folks across the country are putting the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner preparations, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are working on bringing education reform to the table.

Duncan and Bloomberg met in Washington D.C. Wednesday to discuss the Obama administration's education reform program "Race to the Top," and how to get more out of America's schools.

Duncan said that communities across the nation are demanding better education for their children, and urged Americans to keep pushing very hard for change.

“What are we trying to do with Race to the Top?...We’re asking folks to make the kinds of changes that will last two, three, four years...We want the kind of fundamental changes that will last for two, three, four decades,” Duncan said.

Bloomberg blasted a 2008 law passed by the New York the State Legislature that forbids principals from evaluating teachers based on student achievement data.

“That’s like saying to hospitals: You can evaluate heart surgeons on any criteria you want. Just not patient survival rates. Thankfully, the law in New York is set to expire this June, but that isn’t enough,” Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg also listed six key educational reforms he'd like to see his state and others make, including paying higher salaries for high-performing teachers and principals, ending a layoff policy called “last-in, first out,” identifying and removing the lowest performing teachers and lifting restrictions on the growth of charter schools.