On the Issues 2008 (part 2)

EDUCATION: Republican Governor Mitt Romney and Democratic Senator Barack Obama take off from a common starting point by acknowledging that the current American school system needs to be reformed, given the number of failing students as well as the fact that schools have been lagging behind world standards. They both push for such urgent reforms if only to remain competitive on the global arena with countries like China and India, whose proven and growing strength in mathematics and science have highlighted their role of new world powers. The educational programs advocated by both candidates deal with, among others, the increase and/or innovation in teachers' pay, thereby recognizing their valuable role in uplifting the nation's educational standards as well as the need to reasonably compensate them for their priceless efforts. While Romney and Obama push for pay increases for teachers, said candidates give equal emphasis to thier quality performance as the country's primary educators.

The Democratic candidates are vocal in their support for early education and actively push for the full implementation and perpetuation of Head Start, a federally funded project that underscores the role of parents in their child's education. Hillary Clinton is firm in her support for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) and has gone to the extent of criticizing President George W. Bush for supposedly "breaking the promise" of the said law by limiting its funding under the 2007 budget. But like her Republican counterparts, she supports the idea of charter schools and boasts of introducing legislation which would creat "an innovative funding source to help build and expand charter schools". She is, however, strongly against any school voucher system that would "divert precious resources away from financially strapped public schools to private schools that are not subject to the same accountability standards". (Obama is reportedly also against the school vouchers.) Furthermore, she has legislated for funds to ensure school modernization, thereby recognizing this as a critical part in boosting student achievement. This, of course, says nothing of the fact that she has also introduced such legislation intended to help schools construct healthier and more energy efficient buildings.

As earlier implied, Barack Obama is determined to pour more money into education. His record on this score proves this without any equivocation. Consider that for his home state, apart from the purpose of recruiting and rewarding good teachers, Senator Obama has, on the national level, introduced legislation that calls for funding of a program that supports summer learning opportunities in favor of disadvantaged children through local schools or community organizations, otherwise known as Summer Term Education Programs for Upward Progress Act or STEP UP. Notably, Senator Obama recognizes the issue of education as both an individual and social responsibility and while he tirelessly pushes for additional funding, he enjoins deeper motivation and drive on the part of the students, parents and of course, the teachers.

Both Democratic candidates value opportunity for higher education and have their respective records to show for it. Clinton, for her part, introduced the Student Borrower Bill of Rights and has co-sponsored the College Quality, Affordability and Diversity Act. In order to ensure a student's upward mobility after secondary education, Obama supports the idea of state-funded tuition and other fees for those students attending a public college or university and who maintain a "B" average. He is also introduced, as his first piece of legislation in the United States Senate, the HOPE Act which, among others, increases financial aid under the existing Pell Grants.

Walking the conservative line, Senator John McCain supports the concept of unrestricted federal grants for education in favor of the states who would thereby decide on their own how the same should be spent to address their respective educational concerns. While the grant includes an amount ear-marked for the teacher's merit pay, he puts his full trust on the concerned state as to how the same should be disbursed for the said purpose. In other words, it is upon the state and not the federal government, to decide who are those teachers qualified to recieve the said sums of money. As with the other candidates, he supports higher pay for teachers and sees this as a means of attracting "the best and the brightest". According to him "good" teachers should earn more than "bad" lawyers.

Not surprisingly, John McCain, as with Mitt Romney, is a strong advocate of school vouchers. In line with this, he legislated the "Educating America's Children Today" or the ED-ACT, under which an eligible child would be entitled to $2,000 every year for three years, for private or religious school tuition, including transportation costs as well as other supplementary educational assistance, while attending either a private or public school. In his own words, "Vouchers encourage public and private schools, communities and parents to all work together to raise the level of education for all students." As with the unrestricted federal block grants for educational purposes, John McCain pushes for federally financed vouchers but with the states deciding on their own whether or not to use standardized tests to determine who would be qualified to receive the same.

Mitt Romney likewise supports vouchers for both public and private schools. He is similarly supportive of the position that matters of education are best controlled and decided, at the state level and not by the federal government. In fact, the Governor from Massachusets believes that any reforms on education should be directly undertaken at the lowest levels of government, closer to the community, the schools and the family. He is also known to be a strong advocate calling for the abolition of the federal Department of Education.

Finally, both Republican candidates believe in integrating values and virtues in the classroom. However, while Senator McCain has voted to require all schools to allow voluntary prayer by the students, Governor Romney religion should be kept out of and not endorsed by the schools.

The basic distinctions between the educational platforms of the two parties lies mainly in their support or opposition to school vouchers as well as the role the federal government should play in matters pertaining to education. This, of course, is reflective of the traditional ideological divide subsisting between the two political parties, or in a looser sense, the "Big Government" vs. "Small Government" debate. Given the sanctity of the issue and how close it is to the hearts of the voters, it should be interesting to see how the candidates creatively argue their platforms and market the same for the primaries and eventually the elections next year.