Could This Be John McCain's Education Tipping Point?
Perhaps John McCain is finally ready to start talking about education—on his own terms.
In his big get-to-know-me speech as part of a nationwide biographical tour, the GOP nominee brought up education without being asked. And that's remarkable for a candidate who seems to talk about education only when he has to.
In his speech in Meridian, Miss., McCain talks for a good while about government's role in children's lives, and says this about education:
Government can't just throw money at public education while reinforcing the failures of many of our schools, but should, through choice and competition, by rewarding good teachers and holding bad teachers accountable, help parents prepare their children for the challenges and opportunities of the global economy.
These certainly aren't new ideas. But the bits and pieces we've been able to dig up about Sen. McCain's education views have come from You Tube videos from town hall meetings, or from debate transcripts when he's asked a question about the topic. Here, he's highlighting children's issues and education in a major speech—without being prompted.
Comments
I think though that you have to look at the difference between rhetoric and his voting record on education.
this is taken from ontheissues.org
# Unrestricted block grants--let states decide spending. (Feb 2000)
# Voted NO on $52M for "21st century community learning centers". (Oct 2005)
# Voted NO on $5B for grants to local educational agencies. (Oct 2005)
# Voted NO on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. (Mar 2005)
# Voted NO on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
# Voted NO on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
# Voted NO on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001)
# Voted YES on declaring memorial prayers and religious symbols OK at schools. (May 1999)
# Voted YES on allowing more flexibility in federal school rules. (Mar 1999)
# Voted YES on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
# Voted YES on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
# Voted YES on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996)
# Voted YES on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. (Jul 1994)
# Voted NO on national education standards. (Feb 1994)
# Focus educational resources to help those with greatest need. (Jul 2001)
# Require state standards, regular assessments, and sanctions. (Jul 2001)
# Support Ed-Flex: more flexibility if more accountable. (Jul 2001)
# Rated 45% by the NEA, indicating a mixed record on public education. (Dec 2003)
Posted by: mr funky | June 10, 2008 9:10 AM
I think you hsuld put down what he is actually going to do to fix our education problem, and you should put more on what he will do instead of focusing on what he believes.
Posted by: Julie Bochenek | November 17, 2008 10:48 AM