Presidential candidates talk education

It’s the first presidential election since the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In that case, the highest court in the land ruled five to four that the government may not ban independent political spending by corporations, labor unions and other organizations in candidate elections. That opened the floodgates and the money began gushing in. Some donors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the presidential and congressional races.

In addition to the record fundraising and spending, there are some other “honorable mentions” when it comes to the record books. If President Barack Obama is re-elected, it will be the first time an African-American president of the United States serves a second term. If Gov. Mitt Romney wins, he will be the first Mormon president in U.S. history.

As for our state, this will be Ohio’s second presidential election with no-fault absentee voting, which means voters could cast their ballots as early as Oct. 2 for the Nov. 6 general election.

When it comes to the issues in this important campaign, many times the political pundits focus on the economy or national security without providing us enough information on the candidates’ positions on education. Because education is a critical issue for the United States’ economic and social future — and is considered a domestic priority by voters — OSBA asked both presidential campaigns to answer specific questions on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), vouchers and federal education funding. Each response follows in its entirety.

What is your position on local control of schools? Do you feel there are instances where city takeovers or state takeovers are needed to solve problems? Do you think school boards should be eliminated? How can the federal government help boards to improve student achievement?

Obama: Excellent schools cannot be a luxury for just a few children. It’s an economic necessity for every child so they can go as far as their hard work and initiative will take them. In achieving this goal, we all have a role to play.

While education is primarily a local concern, I believe that Washington should provide a helping hand, not just strings and conditions for our schools. That said, spending more money alone is not enough — we also need to reform our schools to ask more of them. That’s why my administration put in place reforms that led nearly every state — including Ohio — to adopt higher academic standards without any new mandates.

And we are offering relief from unworkable, top-down No Child Left Behind mandates for states that commit to using local solutions to improve their schools. Now we are challenging states to better prepare and pay teachers and ask more from them, and calling on colleges to provide a quality and affordable education by keeping tuition under control.

Romney: I believe that state and local entities are best suited to make many of the decisions about our education system. However, I also realize that the federal government does have an important role in education, specifically standing up to special interests that put their members’ needs ahead of students. My education plan empowers states and localities in recruiting and retaining the best teachers. My plan rewards states that are implementing groundbreaking policies that bring the best individuals into the classroom by block granting federal funding to support their efforts. The federal government can also help school boards improve student achievement by focusing on getting accurate available information to their membership and to parents so they can work together to improve their schools.

Ohio was recently granted a waiver to many elements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act. The U.S. Department of Education began issuing waivers because of Congress’ failure to reauthorize and fix several of the flawed provisions in ESEA. Waivers only serve as a temporary fix for a long-term issue. What is your position on ESEA reauthorization going forward?

Obama: The goals of No Child Left Behind — setting high standards, holding schools accountable and expanding opportunity — were the right ones. But we need to pursue those goals in ways that don’t force teachers to teach to the test or encourage schools to lower their standards. I am committed to working with Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly known as NCLB, to build on its strengths while addressing its weaknesses.

Last year, after Congress failed to reform the law, my administration began offering states flexibility to create their own ambitious plans for reform. To date, 33 states — including Ohio — and the District of Columbia have been granted flexibility from the worst parts of the law, and in
turn have crafted their own plans to raise standards, giving states greater freedom with greater accountability. Each of these states have set higher benchmarks for student achievement and new ways to evaluate and support teachers fairly — based on more than just a set of test scores — while ensuring that struggling children don’t fall through the
cracks.

Romney: I feel that aspects of NCLB were positive and, as a result, standards, assessments and data systems are light-years ahead of where they were a decade ago. There is new focus on ensuring all students are meeting grade-level expectations and, thanks to the requirement that schools report achievement data for student subgroups, schools can no longer hide an achievement gap behind high average scores. Student achievement has risen steadily since the law’s enactment, especially among disadvantaged students, and research confirms that the law’s testing and accountability requirements can account for much of this progress.

After 10 years, however, it is clear this legislation has its weaknesses as well. The law’s insufficiently granular approach to accountability, through which schools are only classified as making or not making adequate yearly progress based on student proficiency rates, fails to accurately identify those schools that are contributing the most or least to student learning. The lackluster implementation and disappointing results of restructuring efforts confirms that the federal government is poorly positioned to intervene directly on behalf of school improvement at the local level. The Obama administration’s refusal to work with Congress to address these challenges represents a clear failure of leadership. I would work with Congress — not around it — to reauthorize ESEA, building on what has worked in NCLB and correcting what has failed.

What are your impressions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? Since IDEA was approved, the federal government has never come close to the 40% funding of the cost of special education mandates in that law. Would you increase money to meet those funding levels? If not, what mandates in the law would you do away with to save schools the expense of complying with all the rules of IDEA?

Obama: Every child deserves a high-quality education. As a nation, we have a responsibility to give all of our students — including children with disabilities — the resources they need to be successful. For over 35 years, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has guaranteed students with disabilities their right to a free, appropriate public education and has helped millions of students to receive an education that prepares them to be full participants in our economy and our communities.

I am proud of my commitment to IDEA. I have protected and expanded funding for this critical program, even in these tough budget times. Federal funding for IDEA has grown by over 5% during my first term in office.

In contrast, Gov. Romney is calling for steep cuts to education programs. The budget plan authored by his running mate, Paul Ryan, would cut domestic spending, including education, by 20%. If these cuts are applied across the board, they would cut funding for K-12 education and special education by up to $5 billion.

Romney: IDEA is an important piece of legislation that ensures that special needs students are receiving the services they need to thrive. As with any legislation, there are aspects that could be improved upon, and that is why I have proposed a plan to provide increased flexibility to these students’ parents. Special needs students will be able to choose which school to attend and bring their federal funding with them to any district or public charter school in the state, or to a private school if permitted by state law.

Education programs face an estimated cut of 7.8% or more on Jan. 2, 2013, unless Congress takes action to cancel the budget cuts. These cuts are scheduled to occur through a process called “sequestration.” Sequestration is defined as the automatic, across-the-board cancellation of budgetary resources. These cuts would affect every school district and the millions of students they educate. It includes an estimated $1.2 billion cut to Title I grants for disadvantaged students and an estimated $900 million cut to special education under IDEA for the 2013-14 school year. What is your position on sequestration and how would you address the issue?

Obama: The sequester was put into place, and passed with the strong support of Republicans in both the House and the Senate, to force Congress to confront the difficult budget challenges. And while we should not let these education cuts take place, we can’t duck those challenges either.

I have proposed a balanced plan to prevent these cuts while reducing the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade. I have signed into law $1 trillion in spending cuts, which would bring discretionary spending to its lowest levels since Eisenhower. This is part of a balanced plan for more than $4 trillion in deficit reduction that includes $2.50 in spending cuts for every $1 in revenue. There’s still plenty of time and opportunity for Congress to take that approach. The key obstacle has been members of the Republican Party in Congress who have refused almost unanimously to acknowledge that we need to include some additional revenues from letting tax cuts expire for families above $250,000 and ending corporate tax loopholes.

Romney: America must get its spending under control and work toward a balanced budget. Achieving fiscal discipline will require spending reductions, but these cuts should not be implemented through an arbitrary, across-the-board mechanism. As president, I will work with Congress to ensure that necessary spending cuts are carefully targeted, not imposed on an indiscriminate basis. This process will help protect core functions of the federal government while restoring our nation’s economic foundation.

What is your position on vouchers? Do you favor expanding vouchers nationwide? How do you compensate for the loss of money to public schools if vouchers are expanded? Would you require voucher schools to meet the same requirements as public schools, even if they are private, religious schools?

Obama: I am a strong supporter of public school choice. My Race to the Top initiative encouraged several states to expand and strengthen their charter programs, and I have proposed significant new resources in my budget for creating and expanding charter schools. But vouchers for private schools have been tried and studied for decades, and we know that they do not raise student achievement. I do not support plans that would abandon our commitment to providing an excellent public education by draining resources away from schools that will always serve the vast majority of our children.

Romney: I recognize that Title I and IDEA account for roughly two-thirds of baseline federal spending on K-12 education, but have largely failed to achieve their desired results — namely, improved student achievement. My administration will work with Congress to overhaul Title I and IDEA so that low-income and special needs students’ federal funding will follow them to the school of their choice. The choices offered to students under this policy will include any district or public charter school in the state, as well as private schools if permitted by state law. Eligible students remaining in public schools will also have the option to use federal funds to purchase supplemental tutoring or digital courses from state-approved private providers rather than receiving Title I services from their district.

Choice is only valuable if good choices are available. To expand the supply of high-performing schools in and around districts serving low-income and special needs students, states accepting Title I and IDEA funds will be required to take a series of steps to encourage the development of quality options. First, adopt open enrollment policies that permit eligible students to attend public schools outside of their school district that have the capacity to serve them. Second, provide access to and appropriate funding levels for digital courses and schools, which are increasingly able to offer materials tailored to the capabilities and progress of each student when used with the careful guidance of effective teachers. And third, ensure that charter school programs can expand to meet demand, receive funding under the same formula that applies to all other publicly supported schools and access capital funds.

What is in your education platform that sets you apart from your opponent? What would make school board members vote for you?

Obama: This election offers a choice of a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Now more than ever, education is the gateway to a middle-class life.

For the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. Some of the worst schools in the country have made real gains in math and reading. Millions of students are paying less for college today because we finally took on a system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on banks and lenders.

Teachers must inspire, principals must lead, parents must instill a thirst for learning. And students have got to do the work. Together, we can out-educate and out-compete any nation on Earth.

Together we can recruit 100,000 math and science teachers within 10 years and improve early childhood education. We can give two million workers the chance to learn skills at their community college that will lead directly to a job. And we can work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition costs over the next 10 years.

Romney: My education platform addresses the problems that we face in K-12 and postsecondary education while also recognizing the opportunities. I lay out a comprehensive approach to reforming current problems in our K-12 system by reauthorizing ESEA, taking the focus off heavy-handed government intervention and increasing the power of parents to make informed decisions for their children. This plan also breaks down barriers, ensuring that ZIP codes no longer determine children’s destinies.

In addition, my education plan recognizes the promise that lies with educational innovation and puts forth ways to build on what works and encourage the next big idea in learning. Lastly — and incredibly importantly — I realize that teachers have the biggest and most lasting impact on the success of a student. That’s why my plan rewards states that reward their brightest teachers. I realize that teaching is a profession that has the ability to change the course of our county by preparing students for the workforce.

I also realize that we must address the student loan crisis, the cost of college and the fact that 50% of current graduates can’t find work or are underemployed. American higher education has been a beacon of what can be accomplished in academia and how education options provide increased opportunity. My plan increases transparency for students and their families, encourages private sector involvement and fosters new, innovative models of delivery. In short, school board members should vote for me because I have a plan to bring America’s education system back to the forefront and ensure that our students are globally competitive once again. n

Editor’s note: Thanks to Patrick Katzenmeyer from the Obama-Biden campaign, and Scott Jennings and Chris Maloney from the Romney-Ryan campaign for their assistance in producing this article. For more information on each candidate, visit www.barackobama.com and www.mittromney.com.