The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

In a speech today before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President Obama said it is time to reform U.S. education by adopting uniform achievement standards, increasing funding for early childhood education and high schools, and rewarding good teachers.

"The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, it's unsustainable for our democracy, it's unacceptable for our children — and we can't afford to let it continue," said Obama.

To implement the president's vision, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the Washington Post last week that he plans to use the education money in the recently passed economic recovery law to encourage school districts to adopt innovative policies and programs that have been proven to better educate students, including lengthening the school day, rewarding good teachers, and adopting uniform achievement standards.

"We share President Obama and Secretary Duncan's commitment to ensuring that education funding, and especially the new funding provided by the Recovery Act, support real reforms that will actually reach every child in America and help provide them with a first-rate education," said David Goldberg, a senior counsel at LCCR.