President Obama said today that U.S. education is in a "relative decline" and that is "untenable for our economy." He won applause when he told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that bad teachers need to be removed from the classroom and good teachers rewarded with more money.

"We need to make sure our students have the teacher they need to be successful. That means states and school districts taking steps to move bad teachers out of the classroom. Let me be clear: if a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching. I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences. The stakes are too high," Obama said.

Obama summarized the overall state of education this way: "We have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us ... In 8th grade math, we've fallen to 9th place. Singapore's middle-schoolers outperform ours three to one. Just a third of our thirteen and fourteen-year olds can read as well as they should. And year after year, a stubborn gap persists between how well white students are doing compared to their African American and Latino classmates."

He added: "It is time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career."

Obama proposed more charter schools and a new "challenge grant" for states that raise the quality of their early learning programs. He said schools should consider longer school days and school years, and challenged states to raise their academic standards.

"Our curriculum for eighth graders is two full years behind top performing countries. That is a prescription for economic decline," he said. Also:

Today's system of fifty different sets of benchmarks for academic success means 4th grade readers in Mississippi are scoring nearly 70 points lower than students in Wyoming -- and getting the same grade. Eight of our states are setting their standards so low that their students may end up on par with roughly the bottom 40% of the world. That is inexcusable, and that is why I am calling on states that are setting their standards far below where they ought to be to stop low-balling expectations for our kids. The solution to low test scores is not lower standards -- it's tougher, clearer standards. Standards like those in Massachusetts, where 8th graders are now tying for first -- first -- in the world in science. (cheers from the Massachusetts contingent)

Click here to read a fact sheet the White House posted today on Obama's education plan. Click here to read the speech as delivered.

(Posted by Jill Lawrence)