Obama's Record
When President Barack Obama took office, his education views were a bit of a question mark. But during his first term he's had a major impact on education policy. In the winter of 2009, he signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocated $100 billion for education, and created a number of new competitive grant programs. The most prominent of those — Race to the Top — awards grants to states that embraced certain education redesign priorities, including revamping teacher evaluation, expanding charter schools, and adopting standards that prepare students for college and the workplace. Race to the Top has been credited with encouraging states to join the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which 46 states and the District of Columbia have signed onto.
Mr. Obama has also poured more than $4 billion into turning around the nation's lowest-performing schools, offered grants to help national nonprofit organizations scale up promising practices, and established separate "Race to the Top" competitions for early-childhood education and for school districts. Still, some of Mr. Obama's policies — particularly when it comes to using student test scores as a factor in teacher evaluations — have rankled educators. And last fall, Mr. Obama announced a plan to offer states flexibility from many of the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act — if they were willing to adopt many of the administration's education redesign goals.
What if Obama Wins?
If Mr. Obama is able to secure a second term, look for him to try to protect education funding in debates over the nation's fiscal future. Expect the administration to grapple with the implementation challenges of the waivers states received from the No Child Left Behind requirements and Race to the Top. And look for him to fight with Congress to keep funding for his competitive grant programs in place.

U.S. Secretary of Education
(2009 - Present)
Before joining the Obama administration, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan served as Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools. His record includes the implementation of the $100 billion education portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the administration's Elementary and Secondary Education Act waiver proposal.
(Source: U.S. Department of Education, Education Week)

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
(2009 - Present)
During her tenure at the Education Department, Ali has investigated new civil rights areas, including community college graduation rates, and equity in access to Advanced Placement classes. Before joining the administration, Ali served as vice president of the Education Trust in Washington, D.C., and as the founding executive director of the Education Trust—West in Oakland, Calif.
(Source: U.S. Department of Education, Education Week)

Undersecretary for Education
(2009 - Present)
Kanter has been in charge of overseeing the department's higher education policy, helping to implement major changes to the federal student lending program. Previously, Kanter served as as chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in Los Altos Hills, Calif.
(Source: U.S. Department of Education, Education Week)

Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development
(2009 - Present)
During her tenure, Martin has played a major role in crafting the administration's plan for giving states waivers from the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act. Before joining the administration, she served as a top aide to the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
(Source: U.S. Department of Education, Education Week)

Deputy Secretary of Education
(2009 - Present)
Miller has been a major behind the scenes player in areas such as the implementation of the education portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Prior to this role, he was an operating partner with Silver Lake, a private equity firm in Menlo Park, Calif., and New York City, with more than $15 billion in capital, as of 2009.
(Source: U.S. Department of Education, Education Week)

Director, White House Domestic Policy Council
(2012 - Present)
Muñoz took over the Domestic Policy Council in 2012. She oversees White House policy on a variety of issues, including education. Previously, she worked as the director of intergovernmental affairs, where she supervised the Obama administration's relationships with state and local governments.
(Source: White House)
Romney's Campaign Pledges
When GOP candidate Mitt Romney served as governor of Massachusetts, he tried to push for many of the same policies later embraced by the Obama administration, including offering high-performing teachers extra pay and taking aggressive action to turnaround the lowest-performing schools. But he was unable to sell these ideas to a legislature overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Romney has called for allowing parents to take their child's share of $14.5 billion in federal Title I money, and $11.6 billion in special education money to any public, private, or religious school they choose. And he's called for scaling back the size of the U.S. Department of Education, but not necessarily eliminating it. He also wants to expand the $20 million D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. And he wants to use transparency as a lever for improving student achievement — requiring states to create report cards that grade schools on an A-F scale and include information on the states' performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
What if Romney Wins?
Critics point to a lot of possible problems in Mr. Romney's education plan — for instance, the federal funding for his proposed vouchers wouldn't be enough to cover a child's education at most schools. States and local districts would likely need to kick in some of their own dollars to make up the difference. But it's clear that Mr. Romney is interested in bolstering school choice — and scaling back the federal role in K-12 policy, if he wins.

Campaign Co-Chair for Higher Education
Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Industries; Chairman of the Florida State Board of Education (2001-07); Twice appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Board of Education Sciences.

Former Secretary of Education
(2001 - 2005)
Dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, established the University's Center for Excellence in Urban Education; Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District; 2001 National Superintendent of the Year; Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Former senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige
Idaho superintendent of public instruction and president of Council of Chief State School Officers.

Romney campaign K-12 co-chair
Assistant professor of education, Harvard Graduate School of Education; executive editor, Education Next

Senior fellow and director, Brookings institution's Brown Center on Education Policy
Whitehurst is also the former director, U.S. Institute of Education Sciences; former assistant secretary of education for educational research and improvement
"When it comes to fixing what's wrong with No Child Left Behind, we've offered every state the same deal. We've said, if you're willing to set higher, more honest standards than the ones that were set by No Child Left Behind, then we're going to give you the flexibility to meet those standards." —Announcing the first 10 states to receive waivers, Feb. 9, 2012

"States must provide a simple-to-read and widely available public report card that evaluates each school. These report cards will provide accurate and easy-to-understand information about student and school performance." —Speech to the Latino Coalition, May 23, 2012
"One of the places where much of that innovation occurs is in our most effective charter schools. … But right now, there are many caps on how many charter schools are allowed in some states, no matter how well they're preparing our students. That isn't good for our children, our economy, or our country." —Speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, March 2009

"As president, I will give the parents of every low-income and special needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school. For the first time in history, federal education funds will be linked to a student, so that parents can send their child to any public or charter school, or to a private school, where permitted." —2012 speech to Latino Coalition
"When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July." —State of the Union address, Jan. 24, 2012

"We must stop fueling skyrocketing tuition prices that put higher education out of reach for some and leave others with crushing debt." —2012 speech to Latino Coalition
"Studies show that children in early childhood education programs are more likely to score higher in reading and math, more likely to graduate from high school and attend college, more likely to hold a job, and more likely to earn more in that job." —2009 speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

"To have one parent that stays closely involved with the education of the child and can be at home in those early years of education can be extraordinarily important." —Romney in NBC "Education Nation" interview
"We've seen progress and gains in schools that were having a terrible time. And they're starting to finally make progress." —President Barack Obama, in the third presidential debate on Oct. 22

"I anticipate that in those troubled districts, we might want to see a review of the principals and the superintendents to make sure we have the right people in charge. And then I would give them the ability to hire and fire.. Probably not the entire faculty." —Romney speaking as governor of Massachusetts, quoted in an Oct. 2003 Boston Globe article
"We can gut education, or we can decide that in the United States of America, no child should have her dreams deferred because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school." —2012 nomination acceptance speech

"I'm not going to cut education funding. I don't have any plan to cut education funding and grants that go to people going to college. I'm planning on continuing to grow [education], so I'm not planning on making changes there." —Debate with President Obama, Oct. 3, 2012
"For the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning." —Speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president, Sept. 6, 2012

"I don't subscribe to the idea of the federal government trying to push a common core on various states. It's one thing to put it out as a model and let people adopt it as they will, but to financially reward states based upon accepting the federal government's idea of a curriculum, I think, is a mistake." —Appearance on NBC's "Education Nation," Sept. 25, 2012
"It's time to start rewarding good teachers, stop making excuses for bad ones." —2009 speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

"The teachers unions are the clearest example of a group that has lost its way. Whenever anyone dares to offer a new idea, the unions protest the loudest." —2012 speech to the Latino Coalition