Obama reveals new $18 billion education plan

Presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday unveiled a $18 billion education plan to prepare students for college and to train teachers to lead in classrooms.

"It's pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind out on the campaign trail, but when it was being debated in Congress four years ago, my colleague Dick Durbin offered a chance to vote so that the law couldn't be enforced unless it was fully funded," Obama said. "A lot of senators, including Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton, passed on that chance. And I believe that was a serious mistake."

Obama's plan encourages universal pre-kindergarten programs, expands teacher mentoring programs and provides pay increases for teachers that are not linked with standardized test scores.

"In this election, at this defining moment, 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 said.

Obama's campaign said he would pay for the $18 billion program by delaying NASA's Constellation Program, which develops space exploration rockets, by bulk buying, by auctioning surplus federal property and by reducing errant payments identified by the Government Accountability Office.

Obama wants to remove poorly performing teachers from classrooms , increase time spent on math and science instruction, establish 40,000 new scholarships for potential teachers, pay for continuing education programs and invest in new schools.