Last week, Senator Barak Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee, setting up a contest between two Senators for the Presidency this November. The conventional wisdom has been that the Senate is not a good launching pad for the Presidency. Throw that maxim out for the 2008 Presidential election. This is the first time that two sitting U.S. senators will run head to head as the nominees for the two major parties.
What do we know about their education platforms? Not much at this point, but there are clues. Each has a page on their web site dedicated to education. Obama’s page (click here), lays out some general priorities that reveal his allegiance to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). There is no mention of stepping away from the accountability program of No Child Left Behind. Obama’s position is that the law should be funded and approved and considering Kennedy’s critical endorsement of Obama earlier this year it is very likely that the presumptive nominee with two years experience in the Senate will defer to the “Liberal Lion” of the Senate when he returns to work. Senator McCain’s page (see here) has a more general narrative of his beliefs that attempts preserve the benefits of NCLB’s emphasis on standards based accountability while also advocating for more school choice and parental options. Both sites are, frankly, pretty vacuous, but they do indicate an open minded (non dogmatic) approach to education policy that should give both policymakers and practitioners some encouragement.
As far as education speeches, Obama has spent more time on the topic. Last week, Obama delivered a speech on education in Thorton, Colorado. According to the Washington Post, the speech covered a range of topics that focused on increased federal funding but, in the end, the human capital issue was most important: the development of great teachers and administrators to lead our schools.
So all the stuff I was talking about in terms of scholarships and master teachers who are mentoring students and all that stuff, that’s all designed to just create the human capital to populate all these schools all across the country and get them moving in new and exciting directions. That’s going to be the most important challenge that we face in the next few years.
McCain’s most significant speech on education to date, delivered on April 1st in Virginia, also addressed the importance of quality teachers, but from a more conservative angle.
We should reward the best of them with merit pay, and encourage teachers who have lost their focus on the children they teach to find another line of work. Schools should compete to be innovative, flexible and student-centered institutions, not safe havens for the uninspired and unaccountable.
The candidates will, we hope, continue to develop their education platforms leading into the November election. As that happens, we will continue to provide analysis and commentary on how it their policies will shape the future federal role in education.
Resources:
“Service to America: Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia,” Speech, JohnMcCain.com, April 1, 2008.
Karl Vick, “Obama Wonks It Up in Education Speech,” Washington Post, The Trail [Blog], May 28, 2008.
David Rogers, “Who said senators can’t be President?” Politico.com, June 5, 2008.
