Obama announces plan to raise academic standards

As reported by The Washington Post article "Obama proposes to raise academic standards by linking them to state benchmarks," President Obama announced his plan to require states' benchmarks for reading and mathematics to be such that students are college or career ready. State could verify that its benchmarks meet the expected level by either adopting standards developed through a consortium of states or by certifying, in a process to be developed with universities, that their existing standards are high enough. To insure compliance, $14.5 billion in annual education aid for students from poor families would be tied to states' action on standards. The plan is part of Obama's envisioned modifications to NCLB.