Obama Calls For "Historic Commitment To Education"

Obama's plan would encourage universal pre-kindergarten programs and establish 40 thousand college scholarships to help attract what he called the "new generation of teachers."

The Illinois Senator also proposed rewarding good teachers with increased pay not pegged to test scores, and creating a fair system to remove teachers who perform poorly.

"We can decide that this century will be another American century by making a historic commitment to education. We can make a commitment that's more than just the rhetoric of a campaign, one that's more than another empty promise made by a politician looking for your vote."

Obama also criticized the execution of the No Child Left Behind Act, and laid into fellow Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Edwards for not fully funding the program as US Senators.

For NHPR News, I'm Josh Rogers.