Opinion
Federal Opinion

Highlights From the Ed. Adviser Debate

October 22, 2012 4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Includes updates and/or revisions.

Education Week and Teachers College, Columbia University, co-hosted a debate last week between F. Philip Handy, an education adviser to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, and Jon Schnur, an education adviser to President Barack Obama’s campaign. Moderated by Teachers College President Susan H. Fuhrman, the 90-minute session covered a range of topics on which Mr. Handy and Mr. Schnur squared off, including the No Child Left Behind Act, the Common Core State Standards, federal formula-grant programs, school choice, the teaching profession, early-childhood education, and college and career readiness.

The following edited excerpts from the Oct. 15 event reflect the candidates’ positions on four of the key issues of the debate.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

“We think that these waivers that are being given in lieu of reauthorization—if anybody hasn’t seen a waiver, it’s not about flexibility. They’re very prescriptive, and we think that they have led to a very unfortunate result, which is just starting to play out right now, where we’ve given states the ability to set their own accountability standards. ... We would reauthorize No Child Left Behind. And, by the way, as it relates to waivers, they’re presidential orders or executive orders, essentially. I think in a Romney administration we’d review all executive orders and determine whether they made sense or not.”

Phil Handy
Romney Education Adviser

“ ... [W]hat happened under No Child Left Behind, again there was some real good done by No Child Left Behind; there was some real damage, too. One damage was that there were very prescriptive requirements for how states had to carry out their accountability systems and carry out the implementation of No Child Left Behind. ... [T]he president’s approach, which has been [U.S. Secretary of Education] Arne Duncan’s approach, ... [is to] be tight on the goals—and have really high, rigorous goals with standards reflecting readiness for college and careers. ... There’s got to be a focus on accountability, too, but I think what you’re describing could get us back to the prescription and then states’ lowering their standards, instead of requiring the standards and giving more flexibility to get there.”

Jon Schnur
Obama Education Adviser

COMMON CORE

“The president was clear—this is a perfect example of his philosophy about the federal role in education—that when there are state efforts to move an important innovation, in this case higher standards, the president really wanted to see that he could support that and incented the adoption of those standards in Race to the Top, ... [and he] set aside over $400 million of stimulus funding in order to support willing states to design the new common-core assessments.”

Jon Schnur
Obama Education Adviser

“Standards make a lot of sense when put together with assessments. Very simply put, from our standpoint, it’s an opt-in program. It’s a governor-led program. ... [T]he common core should be opted in by the governors, enacted by the states if they want to; so far, 46 have. ... It feels like it has plenty of momentum to move forward.”

Phil Handy
Romney Education Adviser

TEACHER EVALUATIONS

“[I]mproved achievement of kids should be one among multiple measures in the teacher-evaluation system, and [President Obama and Secretary Duncan] think that an evaluation system that doesn’t include a look at whether kids are improving isn’t really serious about helping people understand what kids are learning. ... [T]here has to be a blend around multiple measures, and that has been the president and the secretary’s policy and it will continue to be.”

Jon Schnur
Obama Education Adviser

“We agree obviously on the importance of the teachers—the most significant characteristics in the classroom. We don’t think it’s the role of the federal government to be mandating these kinds of evaluations of teachers; we happen to agree with them, but we don’t think that they should be mandated by either waivers or federal prescriptions.”

Phil Handy
Romney Education Adviser

EARLY-CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

“The primary federal role in early-childhood education is Head Start. And we think ... that Head Start should have different criteria and different elements of success. It has been allowed to go on for decades not as an academic experience, unfortunately, but much more as a social experience, not preparing children for school. ... We think [prekindergarten is] an important part, but not an important part for federal participation unless there’s real criteria associated with it.”

Phil Handy
Romney Education Adviser

“When the [economic-stimulus package] came along, [President Obama] insisted on making sure that there was in fact investments in expanded Head Start programs. ... The president’s approach has been how do you both invest and make dramatic changes in the way the programs are working. ... I just think you would continue to see in a second Obama term a major focus on how do we expand not just the quantity, but the quality, of access to early learning. ... [Mr. Obama is] very focused on the needs [of] kids from zero to [age] 5.”

Jon Schnur
Obama Education Adviser

Related Tags:

To watch the debate and a postdebate analysis, click here.
A version of this article appeared in the October 24, 2012 edition of Education Week as The Election: Debating Education

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Social-Emotional Learning 2025: Examining Priorities and Practices
Join this free virtual event to learn about SEL strategies, skills, and to hear from experts on the use and expansion of SEL programs.
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
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus

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 Trump Admin. Suddenly Cancels Dozens of Education Department Contracts
The Trump administration abruptly terminated dozens of contracts financed by the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
4 min read
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. Trump will deliver remarks Tuesday, April 4, in Florida after his scheduled arraignment in New York on charges related to hush money payments, his campaign announced Sunday.
President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. His administration has abruptly canceled dozens of contracts for education research.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Linda McMahon Will Make Her Case to Lead Ed. Dept. as Trump Tries to Shrink It
The wrestling mogul Trump has selected to serve as education secretary will likely have to answer for moves the president has already made.
4 min read
From left, Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency nominee; Kash Patel, FBI director nominee; Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense nominee; and Linda McMahon, education secretary nominee; gesture after the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
From left, Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; Kash Patel, nominee to serve as FBI director nominee; Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense; and Linda McMahon, nominee to serve as education secretary gesture after President Donald Trump's inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2025. McMahon will appear before senators on Thursday for her confirmation hearing.
Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP
Federal Trump's 3rd Week: Restrictions on Trans Athletes and Moves to Gut the Ed. Dept.
In his third week, the president continued his foray into education, gearing up to shrink the U.S. Department of Education.
7 min read
The exterior of the Department of Education Building in Washington, DC on Thursday, December 14, 2017.
The exterior of the Department of Education Building in Washington, DC on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing an executive order that would lay the groundwork to eliminate the department.
Swikar Patel/Education Week
Federal Trump Threatens Funds to Schools That Let Trans Athletes Compete on Girls' Teams
The sweeping order is a reversal from the Biden administration, and continues efforts from Trump to roll back protections for transgender youth and adults.
4 min read
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP