McCain and education

The following information was obtained through education.com. Next up in my look through the candidates and their viewpoints on various aspects of education is John McCain. Education.com spoke with McCain's domestic policy advisor, Doug Holtz-Eakin about these issues.

JOHN MCCAIN

In General
His main focus is on choice and competition, which he says will bring about genuine accountability for our schools. McCain says schools should be allowed to compete for the most effective teachers, and if schools fail to meet needs parents should be given the choice to send kids to another school.

Standardized Testing
When it comes to improving the education system, McCain says accountability is the name of the game. “We must continue to set standards and hold schools accountable for their performance,” McCain says. Holtz-Eakin says the kind of accountability testing implemented through No Child Left Behind offers a good start. “We should never shrink from the truth, or seek to soften accountability where schools are failing in their most basic responsibility. Where schools fail to meet Annual Yearly Progress, they have failed students, parents and communities,” he says.

School Choice
McCain says that he and his wife decided to send their children to parochial school, and now he wants to make sure that all parents can have the same freedom. “I believe parents should be empowered with their school choice to send their children to the school that can best educate them just as many members of Congress do with their own children. I find it beyond hypocritical that many of those who would refuse to allow public school parents to choose their child's school would never agree to force their own children into a school that did not work or was unsafe. They make another choice. That is a right we should honor for all parents. It is fundamental and essential." Holtz-Eakin says that's why McCain will fight for the ability of all students to have access to schools of demonstrated excellence, including charter schools, parochial schools and home schools. “The deplorable status of preparation for our children, particularly in comparison with the rest of the industrialized world, does not allow us the luxury of eliminating options in our educational repertoire,” Holtz-Eakin says. McCain supports vouchers as a way of giving parents more options and encouraging healthy competition for public schools.

No Child Left Behind
This bill has received a lot of flack from both parties, but while McCain acknowledges that changes should be made, he says “improve it, don't discard it.” According to Holtz-Eakin, “No Child Left Behind has focused our attention on the realities of how students perform against a common standard. We no longer accept low standards for some students and high standards for others. In this age of honest reporting, we finally see what is happening to students who were previously invisible. That is a progress all its own, but merely compels us to seek and find solutions to the dismal facts before us.” So how does McCain plan on improving NCLB? Holtz-Eakin says the law needs to start addressing the underlying cultural problems in our education system, instead of avoiding genuine accountability. Instead, he says McCain wants to empower parents “by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for their children. All federal financial support must be predicated on providing parents the ability to move their children, and the dollars associated with them, from failing schools.”

College Funding and Affordability
While McCain believes the federal government plays an important role in college funding, he also believes grants and loans should be targeted towards those with genuine need, according to Holtz-Eakin. “Moreover, it is imperative that the federal government be good stewards of this money, operating programs without waste, favoritism or loss of integrity,” Holtz-Eakin says.

Universal Preschool
Holtz-Eakin says it's clear that too many children aren't prepared for school when they arrive on the first day. “These children start school at a disadvantage and slip further and further behind with every passing year,” he says. “Research has shown that the best return on investment of our education dollar is in early childhood development.” McCain plans to better prepare American kids for school by reforming Head Start “into a program that serves the essential need of America’s children to be prepared to learn when they enter school,” says Holtz-Eakin.

McCain says that American education “must be worthy of the promise we make to our children and ourselves—the freedom and opportunity to chase our dreams.” Whether voters line up behind McCain's dream is the question of the hour—only they will be able to determine the path of American education in the 21 st century.

Alright, so my impressions are: McCain doesn't think 'No Child Left Behind' is a bad thing, he just thinks it needs some tweaking which is too bad because 'No Child Left Behind' is in fact a broken law that doesn't benefit students or teachers. McCain feels school of choice freedom will solve everything and this is really pretty ignorant to a lot of the issues that are happening right now in education. He doesn't have a plan to fix the college funding situation, and he thinks standardized testing is a good thing which to any teacher, this is a huge negative on McCain's resume regarding education. Standardized testing is the primary reason why 'No Child Left Behind' gets so much criticism. There are actually good elements to NCLB, but standardized testing is not one of them. Overall, McCain is a terrible candidate based on his educational views and if you vote for him, know that you go against the interests of every teacher in the United States of America and every child who is enrolled in a public school.