Department of Education

House Passes SAFRA, Commitment to College Access

September 17, 2009 by Future Majority

President Obama's plan of increasing access to college takes another step forward today as the House passed Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) on strong bipartisan vote of 253 - 171. Chairman Miller, a strong advocate for young Americans, introduced this bill in committee.

While the bill provides more funding for Pell grants and community colleges, a total of $87 billion over 10 years, it does so without increased spending. Rich Williams, Higher Education Associate for the US PIRG, explains that SAFRA is tied closely with the ongoing transition of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program to the Direct Lending (DL) program. "Many of the largest universities have already made the switch to DL," says Williams. "SAFRA is paid for in full by ending wasteful subsidies to banks and lenders – but while the Department of Education intends to phase out the FFEL program in the near future, without action on SAFRA this year the budget savings will be lost to students forever."

According to a statement released by National Direct Student Loan Coalition:

Flashback: McCain Favored Abolishing Department Of Education

September 9, 2008 by admin

In Obama's ad hitting McCain on education this morning, there's this throwaway line:

"He even proposed abolishing the Department of Education."

What's the basis for this charge? It turns out that in December of 1994, McCain said: "I would certainly favor doing away with the Department of Energy and I think that given the origins of the Department of Education, I would favor doing away with it as well."

Here's the full context of a CNN interview on December 11, 1994 (via Nexis), when Newt-mania was gripping the land:

FRANK SESNO: Senator McCain, would you favor doing away with the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Department of Energy?

Sen. JOHN McCAIN: I would certainly favor doing away with the Department of Energy and I think that given the origins of the Department of Education, I would favor doing away with it as well. HUD had experienced many failures under both Republican and Democrat administrations and I would certainly want to revamp it from the bottom up, because, clearly, public housing in America is almost as big a disaster as the welfare program...

Obama Shows HE Is The Real "Maverick"

September 9, 2008 by Ohio Daily Blog

Talk about a genuine profile in political courage. Today, at Stebbins High School in Dayton, Barack Obama will give a major policy speech on education that pledges to increase federal funding for charter schools, while holding them to a strict standard of accountability:

[A]s President, I’ll double the funding for responsible charter schools. Now, I know you’ve had a tough time with for-profit charter schools here in Ohio. That is why I’ll work with Governor Strickland to hold for-profit charter schools accountable, and I’ll work with all our nation’s governors to hold all our charter schools accountable. Charter schools that are successful will get the support they need to grow. And charters that aren’t will get shut down.

He will also wade into the area of teacher performance:

[W]e must give teachers every tool they need to be successful. But we also need to give every child the assurance that they’ll have the teacher they need to be successful. That means setting a firm standard – teachers who are doing a poor job will get extra support, but if they still don’t improve, they’ll be replaced.

These are policy initiatives that don't sit well with teachers unions, a critical part of Obama's base. They are also areas in which Obama is reaching across the aisle:

It’s been Democrat versus Republican, vouchers versus the status quo, more money versus more reform. There’s partisanship and there’s bickering, but there’s no understanding that both sides have good ideas that we’ll need to implement if we hope to make the changes our children need. ... If we’re going to make a real and lasting difference for our future, we have to be willing to move beyond the old arguments of left and right and take meaningful, practical steps to build an education system worthy of our children and our future.

In short, in today's speech Obama builds on his long-held beliefs (he passed legislation as a state senator to double the number of charter schools in Chicago) to take a stand on education reform that is difficult for many in his base.

Let's compare that to the record of the self-proclaimed "maverick" on the other side in this race. John McCain wanted to pick an experienced but pro-choice legislator as his running mate (either Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman), but he caved in to pressure from social conservatives and went with an underqualified anti-choice extremist. He has flipped his position on any number of policies - the Bush tax cuts, offshore drilling, etc. - to appease conservatives. The GOP platform is the most conservative ever. And his record on education specifically is dismal -- opposing measures to hire more teachers and expand the Head Start program, voting against making college more affordable, resisting efforts to fully fund No Child Left Behind, and even calling for closing the Department of Education.

Obama's new television ad, hammering the contrast between his record on education reform and McCain's lack of any real interest in it, is here.

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

September 5, 2008 by MOMocrats

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

Working Families: Obama vs. McCain

September 4, 2008 by Blue Virginia

Obama vs. McCain:

WHAT THEY WOULD MEAN FOR WORKING FAMILIES

 

 

ISSUE	OBAMA