Federal Federal File

Education Odds and Ends Before the Voting Starts

By Michele McNeil — December 18, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The final presidential debates before actual voting begins with next month’s Iowa caucuses offered little new in the way of education ideas, but candidates from both parties seemed to sharpen their focus on what might fix the ills of American public education.

For Republicans, it’s private school choice.

“The answer to the problem in education in America is simple: We need more choice and more competition,” Sen. John McCain of Arizona said during a Republican debate on Dec. 12 in Johnston, Iowa, echoing the sentiments of his GOP colleagues.

For the Democrats, it’s early education.

See Also

For more stories on this topic see our Federal news page.

“The starting place is to get to children young and get them on the right track, which is why we ought to have universal pre-K for 4-year-olds in America,” former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said during a Dec. 13 debate in Johnston. Both were sponsored by The Des Moines Register.

Another Democrat, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, briefly brought up an issue that hasn’t been talked about much during the numerous debates this year: the costs of special education. She said that fully funding the federal portion of special education would be a priority of hers if she is elected.

Otherwise, the talk about education proved redundant in all three recent debates. But that didn’t mean there weren’t some bold claims made.

In the Dec. 9 Republican debate in Miami sponsored by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said that if the nation embraced school choice, he could turn schools around in a mere three years.

He said, “We can revolutionize public education in this country by allowing for choice.”

The following day, in the Democratic debate, Sen. Barack Obama said he had a cure for the achievement gap that’s plagued many schools: “Early childhood education,” he said. “That will close the achievement gap that we see, particularly for minority children, because oftentimes they are already behind when they start school.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the December 19, 2007 edition of Education Week

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Cardona Defends Biden's Education Budget and Proposals on Student Debt and Trans Athletes
House Republicans accused Education Secretary Miguel Cardona of indoctrinating students and causing drops in test scores.
4 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers' 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 24, 2023, in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the 2023 Teachers of the Year at the White House on April 24, 2023. He appeared before a U.S. House committee May 16, 2023, to defend the Biden administration's proposed education budget and other policies.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Federal Book Bans and Divisive Concepts Laws Will Hold U.S. Students Back, Secretary Cardona Says
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participated in a summit this week that drew international education leaders to the nation's capital.
6 min read
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Alyssa Schukar for Education Week
Federal Opinion The Lies America Tells Itself About Black Education
'A Nation at Risk' created a faux crisis to usher in the right's education agenda, argues Bettina L. Love.
4 min read
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, White House Policy director, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room in Washington, Feb. 23, 1984 where they discussed school discipline.
President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell, left, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room, Feb. 23, 1984, where they discussed school discipline.
AP
Federal AFT Head Weingarten Says Her Union Didn’t Conspire With CDC on School Reopening Guidance
Some Republicans allege the union exercised its influence to keep schools closed longer than necessary.
7 min read
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP