Barack Obama on Education Democratic incumbent President; IL Senator (2004-2008)

Sub-sections under Education:
• College
• Merit Incentives
• School Choice
• Voting Record
• Other issues under Education

We reformed schools in 46 states, with their governors

OBAMA: Let's take an example that we know is going to make a difference in the 21st century, and that's our education policy. Under my leadership, what we've done is reformed education, working with governors, 46 states. We've seen progress and gains in schools that were having a terrible time, and they're starting to finally make progress. And what I now want to do is to hire more teachers. Governor Romney, when you were asked by teachers whether or not this would help the economy grow, he said, "this isn't going to help the economy grow." When you were asked about reduced class sizes, you said class sizes don't make a difference. But I tell you, if you talk to teachers, they will tell you it does make a difference.

Recovery Act avoided layoffs; now hire more teachers

A: What happened in Chicago was of concern, and we're glad that it finally got resolved. But you're going to see school districts dealing with this issue because part of what has happened is a lot of teacher layoffs. Part of what the Recovery Act was all about--was to help states and local communities not lay off teachers. Unfortunately, though, we've still seen a lot of school districts lay off teachers. That has an impact on the students themselves because when you have larger classes, it's harder to provide the individualized attention on those kids, especially at the younger grades. And what we say to school districts all across the country is, we will provide you more help as long as you're being held accountable.

100,000 new science & math teachers over the next decade

A: [Besides federal R&D support], to prepare American children for a future in which they can be the highly skilled American workers and innovators of tomorrow, I have set the goal of preparing 100,000 science and math teachers over the next decade. These teachers will meet the urgent need to train one million additional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates over the next decade.

Educate to Innovate: new national STEM Master Teacher Corps

A: An excellent education remains the clearest, surest route to the middle class. To compete with other countries we must strengthen STEM education. Early in my administration, I called for a national effort to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement. Last year, I announced an ambitious goal of preparing 100,000 additional STEM teachers over the next decade, with growing philanthropic and private sector support. My "Educate to Innovate" campaign is bringing together leading businesses, foundations, non-profits, and professional societies to improve STEM teaching and learning. Recently, I outlined a plan to launch a new national STEM Master Teacher Corps that will be established in 100 sites across the country and be expanded over the next four years to support 10,000 of the best STEM teachers in the nation.

Educate to Innovate campaign: make US top in math & science

President Obama captured this essential part of the American character when he announced the kickoff of his Educate to Innovate campaign--a nationwide effort to move American students back to the top in science and math education. "This nation wasn't built on greed," he said. "It wasn't built on reckless risk. It wasn't built on short-term gains and shortsighted policies. It was forged on stronger stuff, by bold men and women who dared to invent something new or improve something old--who took big chances on big ideas, who believed that in America all things are possible."

Quitting high school is quitting on your country

So tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country. That's why we will provide the support necessary for all young Americans to complete college and meet a new goal: By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

Invest in early childhood education and higher education

Fight for social & economic justice begins in the classroom

Make math & science policy a national priority

• Reform No Child Left Behind: Start by funding the law.
• Make math and science education a national priority: Obama will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field.
• Address the dropout crisis: Provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies.
• Expand high-quality afterschool opportunities.
• Recruit, prepare, retain and reward America's teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education.

We need real commitment to education; instead we got NCLB

I want to take us in a new and better direction. It’s time for new policies that create the jobs & opportunities of the future--a competitiveness agenda built upon education and energy, innovation and infrastructure, fair trade and reform.

This agenda starts with education. A highly-educated and skilled workforce will be the key not only to individual opportunity, but to the overall success of our economy as well. We cannot be satisfied until every child in America--and I mean every child--has the same chances for a good education that we want for our own children.

$10 billion to guarantee early childhood education for all

We can start by investing $10 billion to guarantee access to quality, affordable, early childhood education for every child in America. Every dollar that we spend on these programs puts our children on a path to success, while saving us as much as $10 in reduced health care costs, crime, and welfare later on.

We can fix the failures of No Child Left Behind, while focusing on accountability. That means providing the funding that was promised. More importantly, it means reaching high standards, but not by relying on a single, high stakes standardized test that distorts how teachers teach. Instead, we need to work with governors, educators and especially teachers to develop better assessment tools.

Evolution & science aren’t incompatible with Christian faith

A: What I believe is that God created the universe, and that the 6 days in the Bible may not be 6 days as we understand it. My belief is that the story that the Bible tells about God creating this magnificent Earth, that is fundamentally true. Now whether it happened exactly as we might understand it reading the text of the Bible, that I don’t presume to know. But one last point--I do believe in evolution. I don’t think that is incompatible with Christian faith. Just as I don’t think science generally is incompatible with Christian faith. There are those who suggest that if you have a scientific bent of mind, then somehow you should reject religion. And I fundamentally disagree with that. In fact, the more I learn about the world, the more I know about science, the more I’m amazed about the mystery of this planet and this universe. And it strengthens my faith as opposed to weakens it.

Mother home-schooled Obama in English while in Indonesia

The means she chose to achieve this end was education. The family did not have enough money for Obama to attend a private elementary school, so his mother subscribed to a series of elementary school correspondence courses. Each weekday, starting at 4:00 a.m., Dunham taught Obama his English lessons for three hours before he went to school and she left for work.

She also taught him values. "If you want to grow into a human being,' she would say to me, 'you're going to need some values.' Honesty... Fairness... Straight talk... and independent judgment," Obama wrote. "In a land where fatalism remained a necessary tool for enduring hardship, where ultimate truths were kept separate from day-to-day realities, she was a lonely witness for secular humanism."

Children’s First Agenda: zero to five early education

• High-Quality Zero to Five Early Education: Obama will launch a Children’s First Agenda that provides care, learning and support to families with children from birth up to five years old.
• Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama believes that the goal of No Child Left Behind was the right one, but that it was written and implemented poorly and it has demoralized our educators and broken its promise to our children. Obama will fund No Child Left Behind and improve its assessments and accountability systems.
• Improve K-12: Obama will improve our schools by recruiting well-qualified teachers to every classroom in America. Obama will improve teacher compensation by rewarding expert, accomplished teachers for taking on challenging assignments & helping teachers succeed. Obama also will reduce the high school dropout rate and close the achievement gap by investing in proven intervention strategies in the middle grades & in summer learning & afterschool opportunities

Put billions of dollars into early childhood education

Need after-school and summer programs with good parenting

Get parents re-engaged in educating the children

Nationwide program to reconstruct crumbling school buildings

A: Well, keep in mind this is not just a crisis for the Hispanic community; this is a crisis for the entire country because increasingly the workforce is going to be black and brown, and if those young people are not trained, then this country will not be competitive. Closing the achievement gap involves making sure that children are prepared the day they come to school, and so working with at-risk parents & poor children to make sure that they’re getting their childhood education they need is absolutely critical. I’ve seen crumbling school buildings & children learning in trailers because of overcrowding. We’ve got to have a program of school construction all across the nation. After-school programs and summer school programs can make an enormous difference in preventing dropout rates because a lot of times young people after they get out of school have no place to do their homework. And that can make an enormous difference.

STEP UP: summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged

Obama supports increasing funding for the Head Start program for preschool children. Obama has called on states to replicate the Illinois model of Preschool for All.

We left the money behind for No Child Left Behind

Supreme Court was wrong on school anti-integration ruling

A: The Supreme Court was wrong. These were local school districts that had voluntarily made a determination that all children would be better off if they learned together. The notion that this Supreme Court would equate that with the segregation as tasked would make Thurgood Marshall turn in his grave. Which is why I’m glad I voted against Alito & voted against Roberts. But let’s remember that we also have a crisis in all our schools that have to be fixed, whether they’re integrated or not. We’ve got to have early childhood education. We’ve got to fix crumbling schools. We’ve got to have an excellent teacher in front of every classroom. We’ve got to make college affordable. The Supreme Court doesn’t have to order that. We can do that ourselves.

Cut banks out and add $4.5 Billion to college loans

Guarantee affordable life-long, top-notch education

Sex education needed to help children discuss molestation

OBAMA: Actually, that wasn’t what I had in mind. We have an existing law that mandates sex education in the schools and we want to make sure that it’s medically accurate and age appropriate. I have a 3 year old daughter and a six year old daughter and one of the things I talk about with my wife is the possibility of someone touching them inappropriately. And that’s why [sex education] is in the law. So they can exercise some kind of protection against abuse. As for filters, I have voted for them. In the school setting, there was information schoolchildren could not access such as information about breast cancer, which is why there was a broad opposition.

Provide decent funding and get rid of anti-intellectualism

Address the growing achievement gap between students

Will add 25,000 teachers in high-need areas

2 million more slots in our community colleges

So now I want to hire another 100,000 new math and science teachers, and create 2 million more slots in our community colleges so that people can get trained for the jobs that are out there right now. And I want to make sure that we keep tuition low for our young people.

Cut out the middleman on student loans from banks

More education funding from early childhood thru Pell grants

A: Some of the work that we've done over the last four years to make sure that the student loan interest rate stays low, expanding Pell grants for millions of students, including millions of Latino students, so that we are seeing the highest college enrollment rate among Latino students in history--all that is going to help to contribute to us being able to deal with the problem of secondary and high school educations by inspiring a whole lot of students to say, I can do that, too; I can achieve that dream. One of the things we know is going to make a big difference is early childhood education. So we've put enormous effort not only in providing additional funding for early childhood education, but also to improve the quality. 46 states have initiated reforms.

Michelle: We were so young, so in love, and so in debt

And believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bills were actually higher than our mortgage. We were so young, so in love, and so in debt.

That's why Barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep interest rates down, because he wants every young person to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college without a mountain of debt.

So in the end, for Barack, these issues aren't political--they're personal. Because Barack knows what it means when a family struggles. Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it. And he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love.

Make community colleges into community career centers

Join me in a national commitment to train two million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job. Model partnerships between businesses and community colleges are up and running. Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers--places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.

I want to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help they need. It's time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system that puts people to work.

Jobs today require at least a bachelor's degree

"Education," said Pres. Obama during his May 2010 commencement address at Hampton University, "is what has always allowed us to meet the challenges of a changing world." But he made it clear that the bar for meeting those challenges has been raised, and that a high-school diploma--formerly, in the president's words, "a ticket into a solid middle-class life"--is no longer enough to compete in what he called the "knowledge economy."

"Jobs today often require at least a bachelor's degree," he said, "and that degree is even more important in tough times like these. In fact, the unemployment rate for folks who've never gone to college is over twice as high as for folks with a college degree or more."

$10K college tax credit; forgive loans for public service

To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let's take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college & increase Pell Grants.

And let's tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10% of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years--and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service, because in the USA, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.

And by the way, it's time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs--because they, too, have a responsibility to help solve this problem.

$2,500 tax credit for all four years of college

Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids. Health care professionals can continue caring for our sick.

Because of this plan, 95 percent of working households in America will receive a tax cut--a tax cut that you will see in your paychecks beginning on April 1st.

Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college. And Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued health care coverage to help them weather this storm.

Refundable $4000 tax credit for community college tuition

It would also be available to other college students who completed a hundred hours a year of volunteer service.

To compete, students need at least H.S. & college degree

You know, sometimes I’ll go to an eighth-grade graduation and there’s all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. And I think to myself, it’s just eighth grade. To really compete, they need to graduate high school, and then they need to graduate college, and they probably need a graduate degree too. An eighth-grade education doesn’t cut it today. Let’s give them a handshake and tell them to get their butts back in the library!

Pay for college education for those who commit to teaching

$4,000 college tuition for 100 hours’ public service a year

• Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year’s tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.
• Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.
• Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.

Romney education stances compared to Obama

• Partial-Birth Abortion
• Stem Cells
• Judicial Activism
• Welfare State
• Welfare-to-Work
• Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell
• Defense of Marriage Act
• Affirmative Action
• College Loans
• No Child Left Behind
• School Vouchers
• Fathers In Families
• Tea Party
• Personal Faith
• Religious Values

FactCheck: Race to the Top has only rewarded 12 states

Although the majority of states did not receive funding, the Obama administration takes the position that the competition for the funding alone resulted in sweeping education changes in most states. In August, the Dept. of Education said in competing, "35 states and the District of Columbia have adopted rigorous common, college- and career-ready standards in reading and math, and 34 states have changed laws or policies to improve education."

Race to the Top: reward innovation in public schools

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than 1% of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. And these standards were developed, by the way, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that's more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids.

Reward successful schools, instead of funding the status quo

In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.

When we renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we will work with Congress to expand these reforms to all 50 states.

Volunteer in your neighborhood & we help pay for college

Merit pay ok if based on career instead of a single test

A: I think that on issues of education, I’ve been very clear about the fact--and sometimes I’ve gotten in trouble with the teachers’ union on this--that we should be experimenting with charter schools. We should be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers.

Q: You mean merit pay?

A: Well, merit pay, the way it’s been designed, I think, is based on just a single standardized test--I think is a big mistake, because the way we measure performance may be skewed by whether or not the kids are coming into school already 3 years or 4 years behind. But I think that having assessment tools and then saying, “You know what? Teachers who are on career paths to become better teachers, developing themselves professionally--that we should pay excellence more.” I think that’s a good idea.

Pay “master teachers” extra, but with buy-in from teachers

A: Teachers are extraordinarily frustrated about how their performance is assessed. And not just their own performance, but the school’s performance generally. So they’re teaching to the tests all the time. What I have said is that we should be able to get buy-in from teachers in terms of how to measure progress. Every teacher I think wants to succeed. And if we give them a pathway to professional development, where we’re creating master teachers, they are helping with apprenticeships for young new teachers, they are involved in a variety of other activities, that are really adding value to the schools, then we should be able to give them more money for it. But we should only do it if the teachers themselves have some buy-in in terms of how they’re measured. They can’t be judged simply on standardized tests that don’t take into account whether children are prepared before they get to school or not.

Incentives to hire a million teachers over next decade

We’re going to have to put more money into after-school programs and provide the resources that are necessary. When you’ve got a bill called No Child Left Behind, you can’t leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind. And unfortunately, that’s what’s been done.

The reason that we have consistently had underperformance among our children is because too many of us think it is acceptable for them not to achieve. And we have to have a mindset where we say to ourselves, every single child can learn if they’re given the resources and the opportunities. And right now that’s not happening.

Pay teachers more money & treat them like professionals

And when it comes to developing the high standards we need, it’s time to stop working against our teachers and start working with them. Teachers don’t go in to education to get rich. They don’t go in to education because they don’t believe in their children. They want their children to succeed, but we’ve got to give them the tools. Invest in early childhood education. Invest in our teachers and our children will succeed.

More teacher pay in exchange for more teacher accountability

Both assumptions are wrong. Money does matter in education. But there is no denying that the way many public schools are managed poses at least as big a problem as how well they’re funded.

Our task is to identify those reforms that have the highest impact on achievement, fund them, and eliminate those programs that don’t produce results. We are going to have to take the teaching profession seriously. This means paying teachers what they are worth. There is no reason why an experienced, highly qualified teacher shouldn’t earn $100,000. In exchange for more money, teachers need to become more accountable for their performances, and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers.

Free public college for any student with B-average

Principles that Obama supports on education funding:
• Fund public school education in Illinois by increasing certain state taxes and decreasing local property taxes.
• Provide state-funded tuition and fees to any Illinois student who attends a public college or university as long as they maintain a B average.

I doubled charter schools in Illinois; but no vouchers

Charter schools aren’t the only answer, but they’re providing competition. They are providing the kind of competitions that have upgraded both types of schools.

OBAMA: Sen. McCain and I actually agree on charter schools. I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions. I think it’s important to foster competition inside the public schools. Where we disagree is on the idea that we can somehow give out vouchers as a way of securing the problems in our education system.

Vouchers don’t solve the problems of our schools

OBAMA: The D.C. school system is in terrible shape, and it has been for a very long time. And we’ve got a wonderful new superintendent there who’s working very hard with the young mayor.

McCAIN: Who supports vouchers.

OBAMA: Actually, she supports charters.

McCAIN: She supports vouchers, also.

OBAMA: Even if Sen. McCain were to say that vouchers were the way to go--I disagree with him on this, because the data doesn’t show that it actually solves the problem--the centerpiece of Sen. McCain’s education policy is to increase the voucher program in D.C. by 2,000 slots. That leaves all of you who live in the other 50 states without an education reform policy from Sen. McCain.

McCAIN: Because there’s not enough vouchers; therefore, we shouldn’t do it, even though it’s working. I got it.

FactCheck: McCain for national reforms & also DC vouchers

The Facts:McCain does support expanding what’s called The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. But McCain’s other proposals for education, as detailed on his campaign Web site, include expanding funding for at least one Head Start center in each state; requiring all federally supported preschools to offer comprehensive teaching in subjects including literacy, math readiness and social skills; and funding to provide bonuses to teachers who move to underperforming schools.

The Verdict:False. While education has been less prominent than other issues, McCain has several education proposals other than school vouchers.

Supports charter schools; it’s important to experiment

A: We had a roundtable about what we need to do with the schools. I’ve consistently said, we need to support charter schools. I think it is important to experiment, by looking at how we can reward excellence in the classroom.

Q: Have teacher’s unions been an impediment to that kind of reform?

A: They haven’t been thrilled with me talking about these kinds of issues. And my sister is a teacher, so I am a strong support of teachers, but I’m not going to be bound by just a certain way of talking about these things, in order for us to move forward on behalf of our kids. And I think a lot of teachers want to talk about how to continually improve performance. That’s not a conservative issue or liberal issue. If you’re a progressive, you’ve got to be worried about how the federal government is spending its revenue, because we don’t have enough money to spend on things like early childhood education that are so important.

We need a sense of urgency about improving education system

A: Well, I think it’s doing very well for some. But it’s not doing very well for all. So, No Child Left Behind has been false advertising. And there doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency about improving the education system. It is a sense of urgency that we’ve got to restore if we’re going to be able to remain competitive in this new global economy. So, a couple of steps that I think we have to take. Across the board we’re going to have to recruit a generation of new teachers. We’re going to have to pay our teachers more, we going to have to give them more professional development, and we’re also going to have to work with them rather than against them to improve standards. We’ve got to improve early childhood education, because that’s the area where we can probably most effectively achieve the achievement gap that exists right now.

Sends kids to private school; but wants good schools for all

A: My kids have gone to the University of Chicago Lab School, a private school, because I taught there, and it was five minutes from our house. So it was the best option for our kids. But the fact is that there are some terrific public schools in Chicago that they could be going to. The problem is, is that we don’t have good schools, public schools, for all kids. A US senator can get his kid into a terrific public school. That’s not the question. The question is whether or not ordinary parents, who can’t work the system, are able to get their kids into a decent school, and that’s what I need to fight for and will fight for as president.

Public school system status quo is indefensible

Supports charter schools and private investment in schools

Principles that Obama supports on education:
• Increase state funds for professional development of public school teachers and administrators.
• Encourage private or corporate investment in public school programs.
• Favor charter schools where independent groups receive state authorization and funding to establish new schools.
• Increase state funds for school construction and facility maintenance.

First Senate bill: increase Pell Grant from $4,050 to $5,100

Sponsored legislations that recruit and reward good teachers

Voted YES on $52M for "21st century community learning centers".

Voted YES on $5B for grants to local educational agencies.

• $2.5 billion for targeting grants to local educational agencies
• $2.5 billion for education finance incentive grants

Voted YES on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education.

• Restore education program cuts slated for vocational education, adult education, GEAR UP, and TRIO.
• Increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship to $4,500 immediately.
• Increases future math and science teacher student loan forgiveness to $23,000.
• Pay for the education funding by closing $10.8 billion in corporate tax loopholes.