Happy New Year! We are in an election year and the primaries are starting. We all are inundated with the constant banter within and across parties. Given the amount of political focus on education in the past year I thought I would explore and share the current candidates information regarding education policy. My initial goal was to find statements about both IDEA and ESEA as both of these bills are in need of reauthorization. In my search I found that in general, if an education policy is provided the candidates are usually addressing more global talking points such as charter schools, parental choice and accountability.

Let me be clear that neither CCBD nor I endorse or have an opinion regarding a preferred candidate or party. My secondary goal in sharing this is in hopes that as we all have opportunities to interact with candidates through town halls, letter writing or sending in suggested topics for future debates that we have the resources for finding information on the candidates. Also it is clear to me that we need to push all candidates to expand on the positions in special education and children’s mental health as these topics are not yet on the radar.

If you are looking for a site that would provide updated links to the candidates sites as the election year progresses a helpful site is http://2012.presidential-candidates.org/. The site authors claim to provide factual and corroborated information but I could not find specific reference to who is behind the site and cannot confirm the extent to which the summaries of positions are accurate.

The Republicans (as of 1.8.2012)

Newt Gingrich
Newt’s site does provide an education policy section to his website. In addition, his wife Callista has some statements provided specific to music education. His primary talking points include:

• Empower parents to pick the right school for their child. Parents had the right to choose the school that is best for their child, and should never be trapped in a failing school against their will.

• Institute a Pell Grant-style system for Kindergarten through 12th Grade. Per-pupil school district funding should go into each child’s backpack, and follow them to the school their parents wish to attend. Parents who home school their children should receive a tax credit or be allowed to keep the Pell Grant.

• Require transparency and accountability about achievement. Each state must set a rigorous standard that allows every student everywhere to master the skills they will need to be competitive, and develop a process for grading the effectiveness of every school.

• Implement a “no limits” charter system.

o All of the money allocated for student education goes directly to the school.

o The school manages its own staff, whereby it is exempt from laws regarding tenure, and need not unionize.

o The school defines its own curriculum, in line with the state standards and assessments. Students in charters are not exempt from state assessments. The schools are not exempt from reporting requirements, nor should they be.

o State law allows the school to "franchise" its model without limitation. That means they need not apply for a new school every time they can build a new one. If they have the demand, they must be able to serve it.

o The state has NO CAPS on the number of charter schools that can be approved, and the process for approving charter schools is smooth and efficient.

• Establish a pay for performance system. States and school governing boards should lift all existing prohibitions that prevent a principal from evaluating teachers based in part on student achievement.

• Welcome business talent in our communities into the classroom. Every state should open their systems up to part-time teachers so that retired physicists, neighborhood pharmacists, or local accountants could teach one or two hours a day and bring knowledge to the classroom, and business-like adult expectations to the students. And programs like Teach For America should be encouraged and not limited.

• Restore American history and values into the classroom. America is a learned civilization and every American, including immigrants, should learn American history and the principles of American self-government, productivity and prosperity. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1820: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Every student must learn to read and much of what they read should reinforce American civilization.

• Protect the rights of home-schooled children by ensuring they have the same access to taxpayer funded, extra-curricular educational opportunities as any public school student.

• Encourage states to think outside outdated boundaries of education. States have developed very innovative models:

• Shrink the federal Department of Education and return power to states and communities. The Department's only role will be to collect research and data, and help find new and innovative approaches to then be adopted voluntarily at the local level.

(http://www.newt.org/solutions/21st-century-learning-system)

Ron Paul

In a review of the primary education issues on Ron Paul’s site is a section dedicated to Home Schooling. (http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/homeschooling/) and another focused on Right to Workhttp://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/right-to-work/) . He does not yet have a section dedicated to more global education issues.

Mitt Romney
In a review of his election website I could not find any information regarding his education or special education position or policy statements. He does propose the following policy regarding labor unions.
“Mitt Romney believes in the right of workers to join a union or to not join a union. To exercise that right freely, workers must have access to all the relevant facts they need to make an informed decision. This means hearing from both the union about the potential benefits and from management about potential costs. This also means being able to act on that decision in the privacy of the ballot booth.

• Amend NLRA to guarantee the secret ballot in every union certification election
• Amend NLRA to guarantee that all pre-election campaigns last at least one month
• Support states in pursuing Right-to-Work laws”

(http://mittromney.com/jobs/labor)

There are old sites you can find suggesting past interpretations of his education policy but his current run has not yet included education as a primary talking point.

Rick Santorum

His site has a few talking points specific to education

“Rick Santorum believes that education is the responsibility of the consumer, the parent. Putting “parents first” is how best we put “students first”. Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children with local school systems supporting, as desired. As a homeschooling parent and consumer of different schools, he has learned the importance of flexible and personalized approaches to education for each child to best maximize their potential.” (https://www.ricksantorum.com/issues)

The Democrats

Yes there is more than one Democrat in the race! Barak is the party nominee as a sitting President but Randall Perry is also a declared candidate.

Barak Obama

As an incumbent who has been working on education policy his site offers more extensive information regarding education and is the only candidate with specific information on ESEA. His primary talking points are below. The site also has subsections specific to the G.I. Bill, Supporting Teachers and Students, Community Colleges, Student Loans, and Race to the Top. (http://www.barackobama.com/record/education?source=primary-nav)

• Understanding that America has to out-educate the rest of the world to be competitive in the global economy, President Obama has made education a national priority.

• President Obama has worked to raise K-12 standards, invest in teachers, and turn around low-performing schools so that children are prepared for college and careers.

• President Obama has doubled our investment in scholarships and financial aid so that students from working- and middle-class families can access and complete the college education they need to get the good jobs of the future.

• The Obama administration fought for funding to save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of educators across the country.

Randall Perry

Randall has a 5 point likert self scored assessment on his platform for 30 issues. In the area of education he provides the following. (http://www.terryforpresident.com/documents/TFPplatformPlanks.pdf)

Plank #14—Vouchers for children attending private and parochial schools
____1___ ____2____ ___3____ ____4____ ____5____

Strongly Oppose Indifferent/ Favor Strongly Oppose Don’t Care Favor

Comments: Both 5 and 1. First, as with Social Security, I am opposed to the government putting a gun to my head to force me to pay for a stranger’s daily bread and physical needs. It is compulsion, not compassion. Likewise, when it comes to education, I am 100% opposed to government schools. But it would also be unjust to force my neighbor to pay for my children to go to a parochial school. They are my children, and my responsibility. If my neighbor wishes to give a scholarship to my children, that is his
choice. So, as a tactical matter, I would close the Federal Department of Education the day I was elected. I would end all federal subsidies of local education. Next, I would support the breakup of the monopoly that government schools (driven by teachers’ unions) has on primary education by instituting a complete school choice (voucher) system. If the local communities or states want to implement such a program, that is their business; it is not a federal matter. However, I am ultimately opposed to forcing people to pay for the education of other people’s children

He also indicates that he supports unions but also the right of a worker to not have to join a union.
Although there is very little media coverage of other party candidates there are Independents

Declared Independents

Currently there are two declared candidates affiliated as independents. There are also other Independents expected to run but have not yet openly declared candidacy. Stewart Alexander has yet to create an election website although declared. Danny Woodring provides this brief bit of information regarding education on his website. (http://www.woodring2012.com/)

”Education Reform to make our children the best educated in the free world and standardize the curriculum for the three basics Reading, Writing and Math Nationwide so that all children are the same. We need to hold true to learning and not advance these kids until they have achieved the basics.”
There are also a number of Libertarians with declared candidacy. In the interest of space, I have provided the names and links to their sites.

RJ Harris http://www.rjharris2012.com/

Gary Johnson http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

Carl Person http://carlperson.org/splash

R. Lee Wrights http://wrights2012.com/

It will be a long year as the negative campaigning ramps up. Most likely, more money will be spent to be elected than what we currently have as a national debt. It is easy to become apathetic to this process. But we need to continue to be active in the process. If not for ourselves, for the children we support on a daily basis.