Coverage of the presidential campaign is increasingly anemic, coming down to, as usual, thin descriptions of polls and attacks.
In areas of substance, where the Democrats are concerned, we only seem to hear about health care plans. Mix in the Republicans, and we're talking about Iraq. Both important issues for sure. But what about the other stuff important to parents -- education, college costs, the mortgage mess, the environment, taxes, Supreme Court judges, etc.
Political Nanny is supplementing the candidates' campaign messages with some iron-fortified formula supplements. Let's see if we can squeeze a bit more substance out of all this hope, change and honor to country.
Today's Formula Supplement: Education
All three candidates -- John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- plan to leave behind Bush's unfunded federal mandate, No Child Left Behind.
McCain wants to scrap the program, which emphasized testing and punished schools that didn't achieve certain benchmarks, and, according to McCain's website, set low standards. He doesn't say what standards he'll change. He wants schools and teachers to be more competitive and rewarded for good outcomes. He also wants federal money to fund school voucher programs, so parents can send their children to private schools. Vouchers wouldn't cover the entire cost of tuition and fees for some private schools. This free-market idea is that failing schools would have to close down, since enough parents would pull their kids out which would affect the amount of funding each school received. McCain isn't at all specific on funding, but in 2000, when he was running for president, he proposed spending $5.4 billion on a voucher experiment, and $1 billion on tax breaks for teachers who were rated "excellent" in their district. On science curriculum, McCain has said Darwin's theory of evolution is "valid" but that students should be exposed to "every point of view."
Clinton also wants to end NCLB, although she voted for it in 2001. Her plan calls for universal Pre-K for all four-year-olds. She also proposes parenting classes for new parents and wants to improve Head Start and childcare programs. She wants better special-needs and at-risk programs in public schools and has plans to create "green" schools, which would be model environmental facilities. She wants to simplify college financial aid applications, increase Pell Grant amounts and improve community colleges. Her plans include earmarking funds to help increase college graduation rates, double the college tax credit to $3,500 and increase AmeriCorps scholarships. Clinton opposes school vouchers, arguing they would tear apart communities. Daughter Chelsea attended public schools in Arkansas, but went to a private school while living at the White House.
Obama doesn't want to completely get rid of NCLB; rather, he wants to use the testing as a way to help schools guage their progress and improve -- without threats and punishment. He also wants to fund it. The candidate wants testing to also guage high-order thinking, data interpretation and logic. Obama has also proposed universal pre-K programs and looked for ways to meet the needs of all students in public schools. He wants to create the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which would grant the first $4,000 of college costs for low income students and cover two-thirds of the cost of tuition at the average
public college or university. He wants to provide grants to high school students whose schools do not have AP courses, so that they can take college classes. Obama also wants to help fund teachers' educations and create mentoring programs for new recruits. His plans would also allow teachers to be rewarded for mentoring, and the time they spend in planning and collaboration. He, too, has been criticized for sending his daughters to a private school in Chicago. He also says he doesn't like vouchers, but if an experiment with them proved to be beneficial, he's willing to change his mind.
Which plan do you like best? Looks like the Democrats have really thought about this. McCain? Well, maybe now that he has some down time he can give it a little more thought.
Links to websites with more details:
Edin08.com
Education Week
The Pew Forum
Photos: FitPregnancy.com; ABC13.com
