The Candidates on Education

Education consistently tops voters' domestic priorities and is an important part of the 2008 Presidential candidates' platforms. Both Obama and McCain agree that American education is in crisis. Currently, 6 million middle and high school students read below grade level, and only 70% of high school students graduate with a diploma. Nearly 1/3 of new teachers quit within their first five years on the job. And soaring college costs have left millions of students unable to afford higher education, the principal key to success in today's information-based economy. Even those who can pay often leave school with crippling debt.

So what do the candidates intend to do about it?

Financial Aid for College

Senator Barack Obama

• Plans to launch a national “Make College a Reality” initiative with the goal of increasing the number of students taking Advanced Placement (AP) or college-level classes by 50% by 2016.
• Backs the “American Opportunity Tax Credit” which makes the first $4,000 of college education completely free for most Americans and covers two-thirds of tuition costs at public colleges and universities. Students who receive this credit will get it in exchange for 100 hours of community service.
• Obama plans to eliminate the confusing financial aid application, and allowing families to apply for financial aid by checking a box on their tax forms, thus making a separate application unnecessary.

Senator John McCain

• Plans to simplify tax benefits for college. Many eligible families don’t claim these benefits but McCain believes families should have a lower tax burden when they are helping send their kids to college.
• Wants to simplify federal financial aid by decreasing the number of programs. He claims that by consolidating programs, administering financial aid becomes more simple and, as a result, more students get a better understanding of the system and the terms of eligibility.
• Wants to make college and financial aid information more available to families so they can make clearer choices.
• Plans to fix student lending programs by expanding “lender-of-last resort capability” of the federal loan system:
• Lender of last resort means paying when no one else will – so if a student can’t get loans for college from a private loan agency, McCain believes the government should have a bigger role in stepping in to get them money for college.
• When it comes to private federal aid loaners, McCain wants to make lenders be more upfront about long-term implications of taking a student loan.

“No Child Left Behind”

Passed by Congress in 2001 under the Bush administration, NCLB requires schools to make steady improvements in instructional quality each year as measured by student performance on standardized achievement tests. But it doesn't provide money for schools to hire better teachers, upgrade curriculum and equipment or create after-school enrichment programs.

Both candidates Senators Obama and McCain also both acknowledge that NCLB is inadequate but they differ on how to reform the mandate. Senator Obama promises to fully fund the NCLB law and make quality public education available to every child. Senator McCain, by contrast, says the law's shortcomings merely show that parents should have more choice about where to send their children to school; that's why he favors giving money directly to parents, in the form of vouchers, to pay for private school tuition.

Senator Barack Obama

“Teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests.”

• Obama talks a lot of “funding the law,” when he talks about No Child Left Behind, because he thinks that the Bush Administration hasn’t put enough money behind the plan.
• Obama also objects to the emphasis on standardized tests under NCLB, and plans to improve these kinds of tests which have been repeatedly found to be cultural biased.
• Plans to double funding for the Federal Charter School Program, to provide students with a variety of opportunities. Also plans to have a process for closing down struggling charter schools, which has been a problem in the U.S.
• Plans to recruit math and science degree college graduates to teaching to strengthen these subjects in school.
• Opposes vouchers to help parents pay for private school.

Senator John McCain

“The principles underneath ‘No Child Left Behind’ – standards, accountability, transparency – are a major step in the right direction.”

• Believes that NCLB is only the beginning of education reform and more emphasis should be put on holding school accountable for student performance.
• Believes the key to improving NCLB is to put the money in the hands of the parents. As such he plans to expand the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program which give more than gives more than 1,900 students from low-income families the opportunity to attend non-public schools in their area.
• Plans to allocate $250 million to support states that commit to online education programs, with the goal of providing Advanced Placement classes and the like to students in areas where such classes are unavailable. The states can use funds to create online math and science academies and also make AP Math, Science, Computer Science, and Foreign Language courses and online tutoring widely available online.

The High School Dropout Crisis

America’s high school graduation rate ranks 19th in the world. Forty years ago, we were number one. Every year, 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone. That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 6,000 a day. More than a quarter of high school freshmen fail to graduate from high school on time. And there are nearly 2,000 high schools in the U.S. where 40% of the typical freshman class leaves school by its senior year. How do the candidates intend on tackling this crisis?

Senator Barack Obama 

• Wants to pass legislation to give funding to school districts to start intervention in middle school, so kids won’t drop out in high school.
• Obama’s plan includes making personal long-term academic plans, increasing parent involvement, sponsoring mentoring programs, extending learning time, and providing intensive instruction on the basics of reading and mathematics.
• Obama also plans to double funds for afterschool programs provided for K-12, accordingly helping kids to stay more engaged in their school community.

Senator John McCain

• Plans to give kids struggling to meet state achievement standards access to tutoring programs because often kids with academic problems often have low confidence and are more likely to drop out.
• Wants to give education service provides (like tutoring agencies) federal certification and funding so parents can choose where they kids get extra help, instead of getting caught up in school bureaucracy.
• Proposes to use college as an incentive for low-income kids. His idea is to give up to $4,000 to low income students to enroll in an online course, including SAT/ACT prep courses or tutoring services online.

Teachers

The reality that one in three teachers quits in the first five years is further proof that the nation’s education system needs major revamping. How are the candidates planning on countering the problem?

Senator Barack Obama

• Plans to start Teacher Service Scholarships to cover four years of undergraduate or two years of grad school for teacher education.
• Plans to create Teacher Residency Program to give America’s high-need low-performing schools 30,000 teacher recruits.
• To get teachers to stick it out beyond five years, Obama wants to pair new teachers with experienced mentors and give them paid common planning time so they can share their skills and plans with one another.

Senator John McCain

• Wants to give principals more power to reduce costs. One way he hopes to do this is by giving local principals the authority to hire people. McCain also will offer rewards for success in hiring.
• Will devote funding to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25% of their class or who participate in a teaching program like Teach for America, NYC Teaching fellowship program or university initiatives.
• Plans to fund inventive bonuses for high performing teachers in underperforming schools, specifically in math and science and in weak areas of schools.

Early Education

The benefits of early education have been touted for years. They include higher academic achievement, lower special education and remedial education costs, higher graduation rates, reduced crime and even higher adult earnings. Still, the large majority of three and four year olds are not enrolled in school.

Senator Barack Obama

• Plans to put more emphasis on early education for infants, better preparing children for kindergarten.
• Plans to create Early Learning Challenge Grants to help states move towards universal pre-school.

Senator John McCain

• Plans to start Centers for Excellence in Head Start programs, which would reward Head Start (pre-K) centers improving the school readiness of kids by recognizing them as a Center of Excellence.
• Each Center of Excellence would get at least $200,000 per year to expand their programs to reach more kids and spread their practices to other Head Start programs.
• Wants to seek partnership grants and target federal funding to be used towards early screening programs for hearing, vision and immunizations for preschool kids.

Sources:

Barack Obama Website

John McCain Website

CBS New

ABC News

Chicago Sun Times