Issue #1

Todays issue is EDUCATION…

John McCain on education:

I want schools to answer to parents and students.
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? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice. Let's 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 the -- its obligations to students -- when it 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. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have the choice and their children will have that opportunity. Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucrats. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I'm president, they will.
Speech at 2008 Republican National Convention Sep 4, 2008


Q: Do you believe creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the nation's schools?
No, I believe that's up to the school districts. But I think that every American should be exposed to all theories. There's no doubt in my mind that the hand of God was in what we are today. And I do believe that we are unique, and I believe that God loves us. But I also believe that all of our children in school can be taught different views on different issues. I leave the curricula up to the school boards.
2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College Jun 3, 2007

Good teachers should earn more than bad lawyers
Q: How can we attract the best and the brightest teachers, given the current salaries? A: I don’t see why a good teacher should be paid less money than a bad senator. It’s important that we have merit pay for teachers, that we have teacher testing, that we do everything we can to motivate young men and women to enter this profession. There’s a whole generation that’s retiring. It is unconscionable that the average salary of a lawyer is $79,000 a year and the average salary of a teacher is $39,000 a year
Republican Debate at Dartmouth College Oct 29, 1999

Charters, homeschooling, & vouchers are key to success
Q: How can we improve the quality of public schools in this country?
A: Choice and competition is the key to success in education in America. That means charter schools, that means home schooling, it means vouchers, it means rewarding good teachers and finding bad teachers another line of work. It means rewarding good performing schools, and it really means in some cases putting bad performing schools out of business. I want every American parent to have a choice, a choice as to how they want their child educated, and I guarantee you the competition will dramatically increase the level of education in America. And I applaud our former Governor [Jeb] Bush for the great job he's done on education in Florida and America.
2007 Republican primary debate on Univision Dec 9, 2007


Barack Obama on Education

Fight for social & economic justice begins in the classroom
We'll make sure that every child in this country gets a world-class education from the day they're born until the day they graduate from college. What McCain is offering amounts to little more than the same tired rhetoric about vouchers. We need to move beyond the same debate we've been having for the past 30 years when we haven't gotten anything done. We need to fix & improve our public schools, not throw our hands up and walk away from them. We need to uphold the ideal of public education, but we also need reform. That's why I've introduced a comprehensive strategy to recruit an army of new quality teachers to our communities--and to pay them more & give them more support. We'll invest in early childhood education programs so that our kids don't begin the race of life behind the starting line and offer a $4,000 tax credit to make college affordable for anyone who wants to go. Because as the NAACP knows better than anyone, the fight for social justice and economic justice begins in the classroom.
McCain-Obama speeches at 99th NAACP Convention Jul 12, 2008

This is a follow up to above
$4,000 college tuition for 100 hours' public service a year
Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.
Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.
Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
Campaign booklet, "Blueprint for Change", p. 20&46 Feb 2, 2008


Q: If one of your daughters asked you, "Daddy, did God really create the world in 6 days?" What would you say?
A: What I believe is that God created the universe, and that the 6 days in the Bible may not be 6 days as we understand it. My belief is that the story that the Bible tells about God creating this magnificent Earth, that is fundamentally true. Now whether it happened exactly as we might understand it reading the text of the Bible, that I don't presume to know. But one last point--I do believe in evolution. I don't think that is incompatible with Christian faith. Just as I don't think science generally is incompatible with Christian faith. There are those who suggest that if you have a scientific bent of mind, then somehow you should reject religion. And I fundamentally disagree with that. In fact, the more I learn about the world, the more I know about science, the more I'm amazed about the mystery of this planet and this universe. And it strengthens my faith as opposed to weakens it.
2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008

Free public college for any student with B-average
Principles that Obama supports on education funding:
Fund public school education in Illinois by increasing certain state taxes and decreasing local property taxes.
Provide state-funded tuition and fees to any Illinois student who attends a public college or university as long as they maintain a B average.
1998 IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998

Sarah Palin on Education:

Pledge of Allegiance with 'Under God' is good enough
Q: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance?
A: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I'll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.
Eagle Forum 2006 Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire Jul 31, 2006

Supports charter schools, home schools, & other alternatives
My administration will support existing programs that already offer alternative school options available throughout the state, including charter schools, rural boarding schools, home school options, correspondence schools, and vocational/technical, and magnet schools. There are many successes out there that we can look to as models. My administration will support and expand existing programs that successfully offer new approaches to ensure an appropriate education for every child in Alaska.
Palin-Parnell campaign booklet: New Energy for Alaska Nov 3, 2006

Faith-based materials OK in homeschooling
Ideally, the purpose of administration is to ensure that our schools offer such choices to parents, students and teachers. Choice in public education is a relatively new idea, but is already widely implemented. We see from our experience that innovation such as charter schools, homeschools, correspondence, Montessorri, and various other alternative schools have a broad appeal to parents, students, teachers and administrators. There is still room to grow our choices to serve more families.
I support and respect the rights of independent homeschoolers and those who partner with local and state-wide school districts. There must be equity in treatment of all homeschoolers in all programs across the state. The use of privately-purchased, faith-based materials should not be a reason for withholding funding.
Palin-Parnell campaign booklet: New Energy for Alaska Nov 3, 2006

Supports parental choice for what is best for their children
Sarah Palin supports adequate funding for education and will work hard to provide more vocational and technical training to create good job opportunities for our youth.
Sarah Palin supports after school activities and guidance centers to give our youth hope and keep them off the streets.
Sarah supports parental choice so that parents can choose what is best for their children -- vocational training, a public school, charter school, private school or home schooling.
Palin-Parnell campaign booklet: New Energy for Alaska Nov 3, 2006


Joe Biden on Education:

For longer school day & school year, & 16-year minimum
I proposed it in 1987. We should go to school longer. We should have a minimum 16 years of education. We should be focusing on the socioeconomic disadvantaged, mostly minorities in inner cities. That's something we've ignored. We pay no attention to it. We pretend they're the same circumstances as every other kid in America. They start off with half. Half of the education gap exists before they set foot in the first classroom. That should be the focus.
2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University Oct 30, 2007


$3000 tax credit for college for anyone earning under $150K
Q: Since education is a great equalizer, shouldn't a college education be free?
A: Absolutely, positively, unequivocally. As president, that's what I would push for. The idea that 12 years of public education is sufficient in the 21st century is ridiculous. I have a thing called a college access program. I would allow every single solitary family making up to $150,000 to be able to have a refundable tax credit of $3,000 per student. Everyone under $50,000 now qualifies for a Pell Grant. I would change them from $4,300 to $6,300 plus the refundable tax credit. It would mean every child in America, every qualified person in America, under an income under $50,000 would have $9,300 to go to any state university in their state in America for four years. But we have to change our mind-set here, and lead with early education, with pre-Head Start and Head Start. The whole Biden plan for starting early and college as well, that whole plan costs less than $18 billion a year.
Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate Sep 13, 2007


Teach sex ed in schools; including prevention methods
Senator Biden supports comprehensive and age appropriate sex education that includes science based prevention methods.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate--written questionnaire Aug 9, 2007