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Education Issues Underscore Election Stakes at All Levels

A girl waits behind the barricades before a campaign event for President Barack Obama in Dayton, Ohio, last week. He and his rival, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, have criss-crossed the country in the last, intense weeks of the race.

—Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

From presidential race to state initiatives, voters face policy choices

By Andrew Ujifusa and Alyson Klein

Education policy and funding—from common standards and college access to the prospect of "doomsday" budget cuts—have been a steady theme in this year's presidential campaign, even as more specific K-12 debates lighted the political landscape in various states.

And with the strategic balance in Congress in play, along with the makeup of 44 state legislatures and the fate of numerous education-related ballot measures, the Nov. 6 elections could have a lasting impact on the direction of precollegiate policy.

While the economy has commanded attention in the televised face-offs between President Barack Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, both candidates have emphasized their credentials and records on education, Mr. Obama through his initiatives over the past four years, Mr. Romney through his record as governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. Their speeches and debates illuminated sharp differences on the...