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Where do Obama and McCain stand on education?
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Democrat Barak Obama’s educational plan boils down to making minor amendments to the No Child Left Behind act, and starting a few new initiatives such as recruiting more teachers and providing more learning for students at risk. His Republican rival John McCain emphasizes school choice, but wants even more accountability, and local control over schools.
Since the first Clinton Presidency, Republicans and Democrats do not have really different educational agendas. Neither of the two major parties has any genuinely new ideas on education. No matter how revolutionary they may sound, the respective plans amount to incremental improvements of what is already there. The last major legislation No Child Left Behind enjoyed wide bipartisan support at its birth, even though Democrats have voiced stronger opposition to how it was implemented. The 2008 elections will not dramatically alter educational landscape, because differences are rather minor.
McCain will try to extend or federally mandate school vouchers, a scheme under which public funds can be used to pay for private schooling. Obama will try to put more federal funds in after school, summer, and outreach programs, and in teacher training. In future posts, I will explain why these measures are very unlikely to cause significant improvements. Perhaps both candidates understand it, and education is not high on their campaign agendas. This does not mean people should not care about their kids’ education. Have an idea? Write me.
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