Obama: "The Little Engine Who Could"

We are all familiar with the children’s story, “The Little Engine Who Could.” This memorable little narrative embodies American ideals such as rewarding the good, caring for others, self-sacrifice, and the value of hard work. In the story, a train filled with toys for little children breaks down. Several other engines that are too busy or too self-important to help the toy train pass it by, and the stranded little toy train is discouraged by the other engines’ lack of compassion. Finally, one engine stops to help the toy train—for all intents and purposes, the engine is much too small to pull the train to its destination, but through determination and sheer will, it completes the task and delivers the rewards to the children.

Today, public education is a derailed train. No Child Left Behind failed to drive public education toward improvement, and is currently, a broken policy. Public education sits stalled, by the wayside, as the current administration moves forward in other directions. It seems that public education isn’t important enough to warrant the attention of policymakers.

Even on the campaign trail, many of the candidates gloss over the problems with public education. Alone it sits on the side of the tracks until a determined candidate like Barrack Obama comes along. The task of reforming public education is enormous, but Obama’s plans to take on the issue with determination, continued commitment, and sheer will. With innovative plans for reform and promises of increased federal funding (see this site for details http://obama.senate.gov/issues/education/index.html), Obama is the “Little Engine Who Could,” taking on the plight of the failing public school system—a sure reward for deserving American children. His "yes we can" attitude is entirely indicative of the American ideals embedded in this childrens story.