A
sure sign that John McCain isn’t your average
Republican was his choice of venue for unveiling
an array of proposed education reforms last week
– the NAACP convention.
While
McCain undoubtedly had no illusions about gaining
the votes of convention delegates, his appearance
said a lot about his focus in education:
on those students who still have the least
opportunity.
The
education platform of Democratic presidential
candidate Barack
Obama has been out in public for some time,
but with last week’s speech and K-12 education
plan, McCain
surged ahead in a key area – empowering parents
and educators and offering real change in
education.
Both
Obama and McCain support increased use of
alternative certification and increased support
for teachers who locate in underperforming
schools. But
much of what a President Obama would do expands
federal involvement in education and increases the
role President Bush began as
“Schoolmaster-in-Chief,” a role at which
neither he nor any other Leader of the Free World
is likely to be successful.
McCain
takes a different tack, supporting greater use of
virtual education, financial authority for
principals, and more options for parents.
These
issues draw a bright line between the two
candidates.
Consider
the issue of D.C. Opportunity Scholarships.
Today, nearly 2,000 students in our
nation’s capital use federally financed
scholarships to attend the public or private
school of their choice.
It’s a measure supported by D.C. leaders,
from former Mayor Anthony Williams to current
Mayor Adrian Fenty and School Superintendent
Michelle Rhee. And
there’s a waiting list of 7,000 students, from
families with an average income of $23,000 a year.
In
fact, after more than a quarter century of
opposing school choice, former Mayor Marion Barry
has now lined up behind the D.C. program, noting
in The Washington Post that "Moms,
dads, aunts, uncles, and other guardians in my
community tell me that these programs are making a
difference in their children's lives and giving
them hope they have never had.”
So
who is the presidential candidate offering these
parents … hope?
McCain
wants to see the program expanded in Washington, D.C. Obama has
been afraid to stray from teachers’ union
opposition to parental empowerment.
When a February news report indicated he
was “open” to private school vouchers, his
press office rushed out a repudiation of his words
and reiterated his opposition to parental choice.
But
it's worth noting his own words that he
repudiated: “If
there was any argument for vouchers, it was
‘Alright, let’s see if this experiment
works,’ and if it does, then whatever my
preconceptions, my attitude is you do what
works for the kids
(emphasis mine).
I will not allow my predispositions to
stand in the way of making sure that our kids can
learn. We’re
losing several generations of kids and something
has to be done.”
Perhaps
not his predispositions, but certainly his
politics stand in the way of giving poor parents
the same right to choose their child’s school
that he exercised for his own daughters by sending
them to private school.
After all, D.C. votes reliably Democrat, he
can’t afford to anger the teachers’ unions,
and if a few thousand kids have to be pushed over
the side … so be it.
What’s one more generation?
But
it doesn’t have to be that way.
Democrats with courage have begun standing
up for the kids they represent:
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) signed a big
expansion of the Milwaukee voucher program. Arizona
Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) signed two new voucher
programs into law. In
Florida, more than a third of the Democratic caucus
(including more than half of the legislative Black
Caucus) supported a $30 million corporate tax
credit program for private school scholarships.
Legislative Democrats in Louisiana,
New Jersey, and Maryland have similarly taken the lead in supporting more
educational options for students.
And
in Iowa, Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) signed into law a
tax-credit scholarship program that passed the
legislature with overwhelming Democratic support.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) signed a
$10 million expansion of Pennsylvania’s tax credit scholarship program for low-income
kids.
Those
last two examples are particularly relevant to
Virginia, where Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, has
annually introduced legislation for the same kind
of corporate tax credits aimed at helping kids in
places like the City of Petersburg, where 48
percent of sixth graders and 58 percent of eighth
graders cannot read on grade level – even after
years of extra state support, school
restructuring, and the appointment of a state
instructional supervisor.
Saxman
is reinvigorating his effort for next year,
starting with a press conference Tuesday at Richmond’s
Capitol Square Bell
Tower with former D.C. City Councilman Kevin Chavous,
chairman of Democrats for Education Reform.
Hopefully, the message Chavous will send to
Virginia Democrats – and to Barack Obama – is
that kids come first; politics, last.
--
July 21, 2008
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