Democrats drawing applause for attacking NCLB

In Pennsylvania, both Clinton and Obama appear to be picking up the pace of their attacks on No Child Left Behind -- rewarded by the applause they receive for the attacks. This article by Eleanor Chute of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette nicely sums up both the attacks and the most current education positions offered up by the campaigns.

Richard Whitmire

McCain Seeks Jeb Bush's Advice

If you want some insight into Sen. John McCain's education ideas, check out this Associated Press story, which mentions a key adviser to his campaign.

Fellow Republican and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

McCain, who was campaigning in Florida with Bush's successor, Gov. Charlie Crist, said he's been seeking Bush's advice on education for the last couple of years, and would continue to do so if elected in November. (This is cross-posted from my Campaign K-12 blog over at edweek.org.)

Bush, who was a big supporter of school vouchers, standardized testing, and merit pay for teachers during his 1999-2007 term in office, has been working on beefing up his education legacy through a new foundation he unveiled last month. In fact, the head of his foundation is also responsible for helping revive his voucher plan for failing schools, which was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court in 2004.

McCain doesn't have an incredibly deep bench of education advisers, nor does he talk much about education. So relying on Bush, who made education a top priority (even if many didn't agree with his methods), is probably a smart move for McCain.

McCain Finally Starts Talking Education

We've heard more from John McCain on education in these last two days than I think we've heard from him during the entire campaign. And although he hasn't really touted any new ideas, he's at least talking about education on his own terms.

As part of a nationwide biographical tour, the GOP nominee on Monday appeared in Meridian, Miss., where he talked for a good while about government's role in children's lives. He said 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.

And yesterday, against the backdrop of Episcopal High School, a private boarding school he attended in Alexandria, Va., McCain spoke eloquently about the influence of the school's teachers and its honor code, and how those high school years from 1951 to 1954 were among the happiest of his life. While attending school there, Sen. McCain participated in yearbook, the drama club, and wrestling.

He said:

Every child should be blessed with a teacher like I had, and to learn at institutions with high academic standards and codes of conduct that reinforce the values their parents try to impart to them.

He acknowledged, in his speech, that not everyone has those experiences. Half of African American and Hispanic students don't graduate on time, he said. The country's math and science scores are near the bottom of industrialized countries, he continued.

He touted merit pay for teachers, and encouraging more people, especially military veterans, to turn to teaching as a career. You can hear more of his thoughts about teachers—who he says should be treated like heroes— in the video I included at the end of this post.

And, he said parents should be able to get their kids out of bad schools and into good ones.

Presumably, good ones like Episcopal.

Episcopal has an average class size of 12—a public school teacher's dream. The school also gets to pick and choose who it educates. For the 2007-08 school year, 668 students applied, and 197 were accepted. Although 30 percent of its students receive financial aid, this education comes with a hefty price tag:

$38,200 a year.

That's more than the median family income of a black family in the U.S., which was $31,969 a year in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The income of a Hispanic family also falls below the school's tuition level. The median income for a white family was $50,673 in 2006.

In this speech, McCain talked more about education than at any other time in the campaign. But didn't say what families should do if they can't afford a better school, whether it be a pricey Episcopal, a less expensive inner-city Catholic school, or another public school across town that's the price of city bus fare everyday.

A fresh Obama strategy?

Here's the case for encouraging Obama to take up the boys-in-trouble issue in the campaign as a way of reaching out to working class families. Full disclosure: I wrote it.

Richard Whitmire

Obama as a closet reformer?

Over the past months we've seen hints that Barack Obama may have well-concealed sympathies for school vouchers or performance pay -- but the hints are then quickly muddied by Obama staffers who insist he hews to the conventional platforms of the teachers' unions. Only the general election, or the presidency, will tell for sure. But there's a case to be made that school reform may be Obama's one departure from a purely liberal line, and the case is made here.

Richard Whitmire

McCain Wades Into Autism Controversy

Now that John McCain is the Republican nominee for president, a lot of people are paying far more attention to what he says on the campaign trail.

And although he doesn't talk much about education, he may have stepped on a landmine when he waded into the controversial area of what causes autism. Specifically, he said there's "strong evidence" that a preservative in vaccines is causing autism, according to this New York Times story.

What strong evidence?

I asked a colleague who knows far more about special education issues. And as Christina Samuels points out in her blog post, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no link.

Of course, there are a lot of parents out there who don't believe that. (Update: Plus, I found this story in yesterday's USA Today.) The question is, has McCain taken the time to look into all the evidence out there?

Newest editorial

Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, posts an op-ed decrying the fact that none of the presidential candidates has taken up EWA's call to be interviewed by a panel of education reporters about their views on the issue. We're still waiting.