Tuesday
October 28, 2008
by desertjim
After almost two years of campaigning, we are now one week from the presidential election. I will not miss the TV ads, robo-calls, canvassers and mounds of election mailers. Living in the swing state of New Mexico means an even heavier dose of electioneering than I used to see in Illinois. Voting early did help reduce some of the campaign calls from individual candidates. All the new computer software allows campaigns to track voters and not waste time by calling those who already cast their ballots. (I did my part to cut down calls in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional district by volunteering to do that data entry for several local candidates.)
If you haven’t voted yet, here is a bit of information about the educational policies of the presidential candidates. The information is gleaned directly from the websites of Barack Obama and John McCain.
Senator McCain says that No Child Left Behind has focused our attention on the realities of how students perform against a common standard and that we can no longer accept low standards for some students and high standards for others. Senator Obama says the goal of the law was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation and shortcomings in the design of the law have limited its effectiveness. He says the law has failed to provide sufficient high-quality teachers and failed to support and pay those teachers.
Despite what I have heard from some educators, McCain does not seem to have a specific program for school vouchers. His website does say that, “If a school wil not change, the students should be able to change schools....parents shold be empowered with school choice to send their children to the school that can best educate them.” It is not stated whether that choice would include private and/or public schools. Obama intends to foster choice by doubling funding for the Federal Charter School Program to create more successful charter schools (which are part of the public school system). He would, however, require more accountability for charter schools and ask for a clear process to close down underperforming charter schools.
Obama hopes to attract more teachers by creating Teacher Service Scholarships that will pay for teacher education in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location. McCain believes that schools need to be freed up to compete for the most effective, character building teachers, hire them and reward them. Both candidates in interviews have expressed support for alternative routes to teaching such as Teach For America.
There are other positions given on the candidates’ websites linked above. If you are still undecided, check them out for yourself. Educated voters are the best hope of an effective democracy.
Labels:
