So, on to the actual policy proposals. I am trying to separate the political fluff from actual meat. I am not interested in the candidates opinions on education (we should have a stronger education system!); rather, what each candidate plans to do to make that goal a reality.
John McCain:
John McCain Will Build On The Lessons Of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). There should be an emphasis on standards and accountability. However, our goal cannot be group averages. Instead, our focus should be to inspire every child to strive to reach his or her potential. While NCLB has been invaluable in providing a clear picture of which schools and students are struggling, it is only the beginning of education reform.
John McCain Will Provide Effective Education Leadership. John McCain is committed to high standards and accountability, but he is also committed to providing the resources needed to succeed. He believes we should invest in people, parents and reward achievement.
John McCain Will Work To Ensure That Our Children Have Quality Teachers. The single biggest challenge in turning around a failing school is getting quality teachers into that school. To overcome this challenge, John McCain will:
Encourage Alternative Certification Methods That Open The Door For Highly Motivated Teachers To Enter The Field. John McCain will devote five percent of Title II funding to states to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or who participate in an alternative teacher recruitment program such as Teach for America, the New York City Teaching Fellowship Program, the New Teacher Project, or excellent university initiatives.
Provide Bonuses For Teachers Who Locate In Underperforming Schools And Demonstrate Strong Leadership As Measured By Student Improvement. John McCain will devote 60 percent of Title II funding for incentive bonuses for high performing teachers to locate in the most challenging educational settings, for teachers to teach subjects like math and science, and for teachers who demonstrate student improvement. Payments will be made directly to teachers. Funds should also be devoted to provide performance bonuses to teachers who raise student achievement and enhance the school-wide learning environment. Principals may also consider other issues in addition to test scores such as peer evaluations, student subgroup improvements, or being removed from the state's "in need of improvement" list.
Provide Funding For Needed Professional Teacher Development. Where federal funds are involved, teacher development money should be used to enhance the ability of teachers to perform in today's technology driven environment. We need to provide teachers with high quality professional development opportunities with a primary focus on instructional strategies that address the academic needs of their students. The first 35 percent of Title II funding would be directed to the school level so principals and teachers could focus these resources on the specific needs of their schools.
John McCain Will Ensure Children Struggling To Meet State Standards Will Have Immediate Access To High Quality Tutoring Programs. Local school districts can certify education service providers but providers can also bypass the local bureaucracy and receive direct federal certification. Education service providers can then market directly to parents. Title I money will be directed straight to the provider.
John McCain Supports Expanding Virtual Learning By Reforming The "Enhancing Education Through Technology Program." John McCain will target $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools and support the development of online course offerings for students. These courses may be for regular coursework, for enhancement, or for dual enrollment into college.
John McCain Will Allocate $250 Million Through A Competitive Grant Program To Support States That Commit To Expanding Online Education Opportunities. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of AP Math, Science, and Computer Sciences courses, online tutoring support for students in traditional schools, and foreign language courses.
John McCain Will Offer $250 Million For Digital Passport Scholarships To Help Students Pay For Online Tutors Or Enroll In Virtual Schools. Low-income students will be eligible to receive up to $4,000 to enroll in an online course, SAT/ACT prep course, credit recovery or tutoring services offered by a virtual provider. Providers could range from other public schools, virtual charter schools, home school parents utilizing virtual schooling resources or district or state sponsored virtual schools. The Department of Education would competitively award the funds to a national scholarship administrator who would manage the student applications, monitoring, and evaluation of providers.
No actual initiatives are listed under McCain's plan for higher education.Barak Obama:
- Zero to Five Plan: Obama's comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. Unlike other early childhood education plans, Obama's plan places key emphasis at early care and education for infants, which is essential for children to be ready to enter kindergarten. Obama will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.
- Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for both.
- Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama will reform NCLB, which starts by funding the law. Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. Obama will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.
- Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. He will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.
- Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama will address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school - strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.
- Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children.
- Expand Summer Learning Opportunities: Obama's "STEP UP" plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community organizations.
- Support College Outreach Programs: Obama supports outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.
- Support English Language Learners: Obama supports transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.
Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's Teachers
- Recruit Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.
- Prepare Teachers: Obama will require all schools of education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.
- Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, Obama's plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. He will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.
- Reward Teachers: Obama will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.
Higher Education
- Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.
- Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application
Both McCain and Obama discuss the idea of paying teachers more to work in under performing school districts. I believe this is an excellent idea, and I am happy that both candidates are putting a focus on this within their plans. Again, it is hard for me to decipher which plan would actually be more successful.
Obama is the only candidate that discusses expanding early childhood education. I think expanding early childhood education will help give students the skills they need to succeed in school and is a terrific idea. Obama is the leader on this issue in my book.
Obama is the only candidate that discusses in detail how he would support higher education. McCain's website does make mention of simplifying and improving the financial aid process for students, but it really does not come out and say just how he would do that. Obama is very clear on how he would simplify the financial aid process for students. Obama also is the only candidate who makes mention of providing real tuition assistance in the form of an immediate tax credit, not related to financial aid, for "most Americans". While $4000 does not sound like a lot of money, it is a hell of a lot more than McCain proposes. Furthermore, $4000 is enough to allow everyone the opportunity to start their higher education career free of charge.
Obama is the clear winner to me when it comes to education. Although McCain has excellent ideas and detailed specifics on how to provide everyone in this country with a better education (mostly through teacher recruitment), Obama takes this issue away by coming close to McCain on teacher recruitment and simplifying the student loan process, while adding tuition assistance "for most Americans" to his list of proposals.
Joining in the armed services already gives you a way to have the government pretty much pay for your entire education (http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content/0,13898,rec_step02_education,,00.html). Joining in the Peace Corps, however, is not so lucrative (http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whyvol.finben). I would like to see a candidate propose a similar educational reward for those that decide to join the Peace Corps.
I also would like to see a candidate propose a dollar for dollar match on the cost of an education; meaning, I pay half, they pay half. The eligibility standards for this program should be as follows:
1) This assistance, in the form of an immediate check from the government, would be available to students who choose to enroll in public education, or at a private university if their desired field is not available at a public school within reasonable driving distance, that they applied to and got accepted at, with a cap of $3500 a year.
2) Students who chose to enroll in fields where the United States is currently lagging (math, science, engineering, etc.) could receive a higher payback from the government.
3) Students must maintain good academic standing and maintain good behavior/legal standing.
4) The assistance does not cover the cost of staying on campus; however, it could cover certain additional costs levied by the college, such as printing or parking, as well as the cost of books and a limited school supply credit.
Now the big question; how would the government pay for this? Well...some of the costs could be paid for by the decrease in other student loan funding from the government. Simply put, with the government paying half, many students would not be eligible for some of the financial aid they receive from the government now. But there would obviously be a surge of students entering the higher education system that currently do not even consider it as an option.
Lets say we taxed the 300,000,000 people in this country an additional $50 a year. That comes out to $15 billion. If we say the average cost of tuition at a public school is $7000 per year (this would include books and fees, and is still a pretty high number), $3500 divided by the $15 billion would allow over 4 million people to go to a public school at half the cost. The $50 a year is an extremely small investment when you consider the economic impact these students would create for our country. Of course, we could play with the numbers...there are more than 300,000,000 in the country now that are paying taxes, for example. Those with kids could pay more of the tax. Those with higher incomes could pay more of the tax. We could build a big chain of national casino's to help pay the bill. We could cut some programs to help foot the bill. However we do it...the $50 education tax would be the maximum we as Americans would have to invest to protect our economic futures.
Please let me know your thoughts, if there are any...also, does anyone know how many people graduated from college last year? I would like to know if by 4 million number is far off?
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