Obama v. McCain on the Issues: Quality Education, Quality Teachers

After all the lies we heard coming out of the RNC, and since the Republicans had their chance yet choose not to talk about REAL ISSUES for an entire week, let's take a closer look at the differences between Obama and McCain's policies that affect working families most.

ISSUE: QUALITY EDUCATION, QUALITY TEACHERS

BARACK OBAMA

• Obama Will Reform No Child Left Behind, Which Instead Left the Money Behind. The goal of No Child Left Behind was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support. As a result, the law has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to adequately support and pay those teachers.

• Obama Will Recruit and Retain Teachers. Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location. To support our teachers, Obama’s plan will provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.

JOHN MCCAIN

• McCain Voted Against Reducing the Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy In Order to Fully Fund The No Child Left Behind Act. McCain voted against a proposal to reduce President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and instead use those funds for deficit reduction and to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act. [SCR 23, Vote 60, 3/19/03; Vote 64, 3/16/06; Vote 58, 3/16/06; Vote 56, 3/16/05; Vote 35, 3/10/04; Vote 330, 9/9/03; Vote 5, 1/16/03]

• McCain Repeatedly Opposed Funding To Help Reduce Class Sizes By Hiring 100,000 New Teachers. On four different occasions, McCain voted against funding to hire 100,000 new teachers to help reduce class sizes. In addition, he has repeatedly voted against increased funding for teacher training programs. [2001 Senate Vote #103, 5/15/2001; 1999 Senate Vote #41, 3/11/1999; 1998 Senate Vote #93, 4/22/98; 1998 Senate Vote #50, 3/31/98]

That's not change, that's just more of the same.