Presidential Educations

For this week's issue, we'll look at candidates' Plans for Education. Once again, all information and videos are taken directly from the candidates' websites, either in part or in whole, unless otherwise noted, with minimal alteration to clarify and streamline information.

Barack Obama
Summarized from Obama's Website

• President Obama has made education a national priority, as he understands America has to out-educate the rest of the world to be competitive in the global economy, and so he has doubled America's investment in scholarships and financial aid so students from working- and middle-class families can access and complete the college education they need to get the good jobs of the future, Obama has worked to raise K-12 standards, invest in teachers, save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of educators across the country, and turn around low performing schools so that children are prepared for college and careers.
• President Obama signed a new law that makes it easier for students to pay back their federal college loans so that new borrowers would not have to pay more than 10% of their disposable income and that any remaining debt be forgiven after 20 years. Those in public service professions like teachers, nurses or members of the armed forces, will have any remaining debt forgiven after 10 years, provided they make their payments on time.
• President Obama made college more affordable by doubling funding for Pell Grants, increasing the number of recipients from 6 million to 9 million since 2008. He achieved this in part by eliminating the middlemen from the college-loan program, taking away billions of taxpayer dollars that were going to the banks instead of students. The President also created and extended the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth as much as $10,000 over four years of school, and is estimated to have helped 9.4 million students and families in 2011.
• In his State of the Union address, President Obama challenged schools and states to keep good teachers on the job and keep students in school until they graduate or turn 18. The Obama administration has also fought to save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of educators across the country, with the Recovery Act saving roughly 300,000 education jobs, and in 2010 President Obama helped school districts prevent 161,000 teacher and school staff layoffs.
• To give states the flexibility to use local solutions to improve their schools, and in the face of congressional inaction, President Obama acted to offer states relief from No Child Left Behind mandates.
•  Obama's administration implemented the Race to the Top program, which rewards states for making tough reforms—raising standards, helping teachers improve, and turning around struggling schools. Since 2010, the administration has awarded Race to the Top grants, including Early Learning Challenge grants, to 21 states and the District of Columbia, which serve 65 percent of the nation’s children and 59 percent of all low-income students in the country. Overall, the Race to the Top competition has encouraged states to adopt a high-quality framework of educational standards—and 46 states have already adopted the reforms.
• President Obama is investing in competitive grants to reform community colleges, supporting partnerships between community colleges and employers to provide pathways to good jobs. As a candidate, Barack Obama proposed the creation of a community college partnership program to support institutions that provide a stepping stone to better jobs for millions of Americans, and as President he kept his word and created a new Community College to Career Fund to build on that progress.
• President Obama signed into law an update to the post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which makes it easier for National Guard members who performed active service to qualify for benefits, and allows for education benefits to be transferred to family members.
• Along with proposing other common-sense immigration reforms, President Obama is committed to giving the hundreds of thousands of hardworking students who aren’t yet American citizens a chance to earn their citizenship.

Romney's Rebuttal
Romney offers no rebuttal to Obama's education plan on his website, so here's a link to a piece featuring an interview he did on FoxNews.

 Mitt Romney
 Summarized from Romney's Website

• Mitt Romney believes that the long-term strategy for getting America’s economy back on track is ensuring a world class education for American students. Global competitiveness begins in the classroom. In order to achieve this goal, students must have the skills to succeed in the workforce, ensuring that the promise of opportunity in this country remains strong.
• As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt saw what a state can do with a culture of high expectations, accountability for results, and increased parental choice. During the third year of his term, the state’s fourth and eighth grade students ranked first in the nation in both reading and math. Massachusetts was the first state to achieve this goal and has remained the nation’s educational leader to this day. Mitt’s experience in Massachusetts reinforced the importance of innovating and duplicating, taking the best ideas from states that are succeeding and replicating them across the country.
• Mitt also expanded access to high-quality public charter schools. When the 85% Democratic legislature passed a bill putting a moratorium on any new charter, Mitt vetoed the bill. He believes that no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing school and that increased choice translates into better outcomes for all students. He also realizes that teacher quality is integral to student success. States should recruit the best and brightest into the classroom and reward them for a job well done.
• During his time in Massachusetts, Mitt promoted access to higher education for students. He proposed the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, providing a four-year tuition-free scholarship to any state institution for any Massachusetts students that scored among the top 25 percent in their school. Mitt also defended the requirement that high school students pass a rigorous test to graduate and saw students and educators respond to heightened accountability with dramatically improved performance.
• Part of an opportunity society is rewarding hard work and success. Mitt believes education is a key to the American dream, and students must be encouraged to pursue that dream and work hard to achieve it. Post-secondary education cannot become a luxury for the few; instead, all students should have the opportunity to attend a college that best suits their needs. Whether it is public or private, traditional or online, college must be available and affordable.
• Improving education in America is a priority for Mitt. He knows what can be accomplished when governors are empowered to reform their education systems, when education entrepreneurs are given the freedom to innovate, when teachers are rewarded for boosting student achievement, and when students are empowered to select a school or education program that meets their needs. Americans have long been known for their creativity, ingenuity, and bold vision for our country, and this attitude must apply to our education system.

 Obama's Rebuttal (Summarized from Obama's Website)

• Mitt Romney's current advice to students is that they "shop around" for more affordable tuition or borrow money from their parents, a stark contrast to President Obama's belief that government investment in education is key to a strong and growing economy.
• Romney would let the American Opportunity Tax Credit expire, hurting more than 9 million hardworking families trying to send their children to college.
• In Romney's first year as governor of Massachusetts, K-12 public schools saw the second-largest percentage cuts per student in the country. Under Romney, state college costs skyrocketed, and when he left office, Massachusetts' state colleges were among the most expensive in the country. Today, he's proposing a national school voucher program with no plan to fix failing schools.
• Romney has refused to stand by teachers in calling for more manageable class sizes, writing that the effort to keep class sizes down "may actually hurt education more than it helps. 
• Mitt Romney has publically stated that if elected "The Department of Education, I will either consolidate with another agency, or perhaps make it a heck of a lot smaller."

Conclusion
So in summary, Obama wants to continue government investment in American education, while Romney wants to let schools fend for themselves and be as hands off as possible, which sounds a lot like the candidates' healthcare plans.
Turn in Friday for the Superhero opinions.

~James