DiversityInc - October 2008

ON EDUCATION

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Obama McCain

Obama says the key to improving education is to ensure each classroom has a well-qualified teacher who is properly paid.

According to Blueprint for Change, Obama’s plan for America posted on his campaign web site, “Obama will improve our schools by recruiting well-qualified teachers to every classroom in America. Obama will improve teacher compensation by rewarding expert, accomplished teachers for taking on challenging assignments and helping [other] teachers succeed. Obama also will reduce the high-school dropout rate and close the achievement gap by investing in proven intervention strategies in the middle grades and in summer learning and after-school opportunities.”

He also says he wants to make higher education more affordable. “Obama will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that will make tuition at the nation’s community colleges completely free and will cover up to two-thirds the cost of tuition at the nation’s public colleges and universities,” his Blueprint reads. “This $4,000 tax credit will be fully refundable and available at the time of enrollment in college—when families need the money.”

Obama also addressed the issue in August at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

“Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don’t have that chance. I’ll invest in early childhood education. I’ll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support.

“In exchange, I’ll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American—if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.”

However, Obama did not specify what type of service would ultimately be necessary for college-education assistance.

McCain says his education plan would grant parents school choice in failing school districts and would call for stiffer competition among public and private schools.

According to McCain’s web site: “John McCain believes our schools can and should compete to be the most innovative, flexible and student-centered—not safe havens for the uninspired and unaccountable. He believes we should let them compete for the most effective, character-building teachers, hire them and reward them.”

Additionally, if a school fails, McCain believes parents should have the option of saying “no” to those schools and to seek schools with greater promise for efficiency.

“If a school will not change, the students should be able to change schools,” his plan reads. “John McCain believes parents should be empowered with school choice to send their children to the school that can best educate them just as many members of Congress do with their own children. He finds it beyond hypocritical that many of those who would refuse to allow public school parents to choose their child’s school would never agree to force their own children into a school that did not work or was unsafe.

“They can make another choice. John McCain believes that is a fundamental and essential right we should honor for all parents.”

“Education is the civil-rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school?” McCain said during his speech at the Republican National Convention. “We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.

“When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.”