U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. is better known for his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee than for his higher-education proposals. But the six-term congressman from Delaware has championed college-affordability issues during his tenure and is also pretty familiar with the inside of a college classroom.
Senator Biden, tapped on Saturday as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, has taught a seminar on constitutional law at Widener University School of Law since 1991. His wife, Jill, is a longtime educator who teaches English at Delaware Technical & Community College.
During Senator Biden's brief Democratic presidential primary run last fall, he made college access and affordability some of the major themes of his campaign. Among other proposals, Senator Biden recommended replacing two existing federal tax breaks for college expenses with a refundable tax credit of up to $3,000 per year meant to cover the average cost of tuition and fees at a public two-year college and more than half of those at a public four-year college.
For more on Senator Biden's higher-education background and record, see The Chronicle's story today and also our Campaign U. coverage of his campaign for the presidential nomination last fall.
Showing posts with label Joseph Biden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joseph Biden. Show all posts
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Do Romney and everyone else agree on testing?
It's no mystery that Mitt Romney likes states' rights. But how far would he go to hand over local control on NCLB's big testing requirements?
The law has always been problematic for conservatives, of course, and as this AP story relates, Romney on Wednesday said education is "an area in which states should have a strong voice." While he supports NCLB's role in fingering failing schools, he told an interviewer that he wants "greater state flexibility in the (student) testing process."
"We've suffered too many years of Washington politicians thinking they know the best for people of other states," he told the AP.
Flexibility in the testing process? Romney didn't elaborate, but it sounds an awful lot like what Margaret Spellings has been toying with for years. And it sounds like something we heard Rep. George Miller say a few weeks ago.
You may recall that Miller, the California Democrat, laid out his vision for the new NCLB at the National Press Club on July 30. Tests, he said, should "include multiple measures of success. These measures can no longer reflect just basic skills and memorization. Rather, they must reflect critical thinking skills and the ability to apply knowledge to new and challenging contexts."
Miller also said: "The legislation I will introduce will contain a growth model that gives credit to states and schools for the progress that their students make over time."
Then there's Joe Biden's website: "Biden has been a champion of educational reforms that include greater flexibility in evaluating performance."
A couple of presidential candidates, of course, have come out saying they'd trash NCLB, but does anybody disagree that these tweaks are necessary and (probably) forthcoming?
The law has always been problematic for conservatives, of course, and as this AP story relates, Romney on Wednesday said education is "an area in which states should have a strong voice." While he supports NCLB's role in fingering failing schools, he told an interviewer that he wants "greater state flexibility in the (student) testing process."
"We've suffered too many years of Washington politicians thinking they know the best for people of other states," he told the AP.
Flexibility in the testing process? Romney didn't elaborate, but it sounds an awful lot like what Margaret Spellings has been toying with for years. And it sounds like something we heard Rep. George Miller say a few weeks ago.
You may recall that Miller, the California Democrat, laid out his vision for the new NCLB at the National Press Club on July 30. Tests, he said, should "include multiple measures of success. These measures can no longer reflect just basic skills and memorization. Rather, they must reflect critical thinking skills and the ability to apply knowledge to new and challenging contexts."
Miller also said: "The legislation I will introduce will contain a growth model that gives credit to states and schools for the progress that their students make over time."
Then there's Joe Biden's website: "Biden has been a champion of educational reforms that include greater flexibility in evaluating performance."
A couple of presidential candidates, of course, have come out saying they'd trash NCLB, but does anybody disagree that these tweaks are necessary and (probably) forthcoming?
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The public wants to know about education
The two-hour Democratic presidential debate last night didn't include the depth of questions posted to YouTube. It's a shame because obviously, the public wants to know the candidates' stands on education.
The first education question posed was a lighter one: who is your favorite teacher?
The next one asked the candidates about their position on No Child Left Behind, complete with musical score.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he would scrap it. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said he thought the law was fundamentally flawed. Unfortunately, none of the other candidates were asked about the law and neither of the two leading candidates, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama addressed it. Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, however, returned to the question later and said the law needs to be improved, not scrapped. "You measure growth in a child. You invest in failing schools. But I would not scrap it entirely. Accountability is very important in this country. We ought not to abandon that idea," he said.
The next questioner asked the candidates whether they sent their children to public or private school. Sen. Hillary Clinton pointed out that while Chelsea attended private school in Washington, D.C., she attended public ones in Arkansas.
Finally the candidates were asked about sex education and how early it should begin, perhaps because of the controversy over Illinois Senator Barack Obama's stance that sex education should begin early. Obama noted that it was important for children to learn that people should not touch them inappropriately.
Despite the number of submissions dealing with college affordability (see previous post), the subject was not raised at all. So even though education is on the public's mind, it doesn't seem to be on the minds of CNN officials screening the questions and very little pressure was put on the top Democratic candidates to address a key issue during the debate.
The first education question posed was a lighter one: who is your favorite teacher?
The next one asked the candidates about their position on No Child Left Behind, complete with musical score.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he would scrap it. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said he thought the law was fundamentally flawed. Unfortunately, none of the other candidates were asked about the law and neither of the two leading candidates, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama addressed it. Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, however, returned to the question later and said the law needs to be improved, not scrapped. "You measure growth in a child. You invest in failing schools. But I would not scrap it entirely. Accountability is very important in this country. We ought not to abandon that idea," he said.
The next questioner asked the candidates whether they sent their children to public or private school. Sen. Hillary Clinton pointed out that while Chelsea attended private school in Washington, D.C., she attended public ones in Arkansas.
Finally the candidates were asked about sex education and how early it should begin, perhaps because of the controversy over Illinois Senator Barack Obama's stance that sex education should begin early. Obama noted that it was important for children to learn that people should not touch them inappropriately.
Despite the number of submissions dealing with college affordability (see previous post), the subject was not raised at all. So even though education is on the public's mind, it doesn't seem to be on the minds of CNN officials screening the questions and very little pressure was put on the top Democratic candidates to address a key issue during the debate.
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