Education Aid Emerging as Campaign Issue

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns with Rep. Paul Ryan in Waukesha, Wis. The choice of Mr. Ryan for the GOP ticket has elevated education spending as an issue.

—Jeffrey Phelps/AP

Democrats attack Paul Ryan's budget plan

By Alyson Klein

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's selection as the Republican vice-presidential candidate could spark a national debate about the future of education spending, an issue that's gotten short shrift in the presidential campaign so far.

As the two national party conventions approach, Democrats are already charging that the Wisconsin lawmaker's controversial budget blueprint, which presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has largely endorsed, would scale back college financial aid and slash other funding for education.

Rep. Ryan's plan seeks to put the nation on a firmer financial footing in part by dramatically curbing domestic spending. But it also sets up a clear contrast with the record of President Barack Obama, who has pumped unprecedented sums of money into education programs. That record is due in large part to the big, but time-limited, infusion of money through...