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Martha McSally on Education

 

 


Supports education vouchers for private schools

Q: Education: Help parents send their children to private schools with public money?

Martha McSally (R): Yes. Supports education vouchers. Backed SOAR Act to help DC students attend private schools.

Kyrsten Sinema (D): No. Opposed SOAR Act, & vouchers in general for eroding public education.

Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Arizona Senate race , Oct 9, 2018

Cut Pell grants; don't refinance college loans

Q: Refinance student loans at lower rates, paid for by increasing taxes on high earners (Elizabeth Warren proposal)? Position on Pell grants?

Martha McSally: No on Warren proposal. Did not join 181 sponsors. Initially supported budget that would radically cut Pell grants. Recently more supportive, like allowing for summer courses.

Kyrsten Sinema: Yes. Voted for Warren proposal. Also restore Perkins loans for low-income students, increase Pell Grants, & allow for summer courses.

Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Arizona Senate race , Oct 9, 2018

Gives other options to kids in failing schools

We must ensure we have a strong K-12 education system to prepare our children to enter the workforce, grow our economy, and keep America strong. Right now, our system is failing us. America's 15-year-olds rank only 23rd in science, 30th in math, and 20th in English compared to other countries and the trend is going in the wrong direction. It is not right to deny children stuck in failing schools the option for a better education that focuses on local control, parent involvement, choice, and competition. Taxpayer dollars should be going to improving education, not paying for federal bureaucrats to dictate mandates and standards from D.C.

I am willing to consider thoughtful solutions to meet these goals to grow our economy, increase our global competitiveness, and provide more opportunities for the next generations.

Source: 2014 Arizona House campaign website, McSallyForCongress.com , Nov 4, 2014

Supports education vouchers.

McSally supports the CC survey question on school vouchers

CC.org's self-description: "The Christian Coalition voter guide [is] one of the most powerful tools Christians have ever had to impact our society during elections. This simple tool has helped educate tens of millions of citizens across this nation as to where candidates for public office stand on key faith and family issues.

The Coalition is a political organization, made up of pro-family Americans who care deeply about ensuring that government serves to strengthen and preserve, rather than threaten, our families and our values. To that end, we work continuously to identify, educate and mobilize Christians for effective political action." The CC survey summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: 'Education vouchers that allow parents to choose public or private school for their children'

Source: Christian Coalition Survey 14-CC-Q7 on Aug 15, 2014

Opposes Common Core, according to Faith2Action.

McSally opposes the F2A survey question on education reforms

Faith2Action.org is "the nation's largest network of pro-family groups." They provide election resources for each state, including Voter Guides and Congressional Scorecards excerpted here. The F2A survey summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: 'Education: Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants?'

Source: Faith2Action Survey 14-F2A-Q7 on Jul 30, 2014

Opposes Common Core, according to PVS rating.

McSally opposes the PVS survey question on education reforms

Project VoteSmart infers summary responses from campaign statements and news reports The PVS survey summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: 'Education: Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants?'

Source: Project VoteSmart Inferred Survey 14-PVS-q7 on Sep 30, 2014

A-PLUS lets states escape No Child Left Behind.

McSally voted YEA A-PLUS Amendment To Student Success Act

Heritage Action Summary: An amendment offered by Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The amendment, known as A-PLUS (Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success), would give the states the ability to consolidate their federal education funds and use them for any lawful education purpose they deem beneficial.

Heritage Foundation recommendation to vote YES: (7/8/2015): A-PLUS lets states escape No Child Left Behind's prescriptive programmatic requirements. At its core, A-PLUS delivers on the promise of "restoring state and local control over the 10% of education funding financed by the federal government," moving dollars out of the hands of federal bureaucrats and political appointees and into the hands of those closer to the students. Now is the time for Congress to restore federalism in education, empower parents and students instead of bureaucrats and unions, and remove archaic obstacles that have prevented true opportunity for all.

US News and World Report recommendation to vote NO: (4/7/2015): A-PLUS [is intended as] a no-strings-attached block grant. There isn't all that much the federal government can do well in education, but it's because of federally-required transparency that charter schools and voucher schools can demonstrate that they work. For example, New York City's Success Academy scores in the top 1% of all the state's public schools in math and in the top 3% in English. When Success Academy came under fire from teachers' union-backed Mayor Bill de Blasio, it was able to fight back with numbers to prove it. If a strong-union state were to receive a no-strings-attached block grant, transparency would be the first thing to go. A no-strings-attached block grant is an overreaction to federal overreach.

Legislative outcome: Failed House 195 to 235 (no Senate vote)

Source: Supreme Court case 15-H0005 argued on Jul 8, 2015

Vouchers break link of low-income and low-quality schools.

McSally voted YEA SOAR Act

Heritage Action Summary: The House will vote to reauthorize the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act (H.R. 10). The bill would continue funding through Fiscal Year 2021 and allow eligible students in Washington, D.C. to enroll in a participating private school.Analysis by Heritage Action:

ACLU recommendation to vote NO: (Letter to U.S.House, 3/29/2011): The ACLU urges Congress to oppose the SOAR Act, legislation to restart and expand Washington DC's failed private and religious school voucher pilot program. Originally started as a five-year pilot program in 2004, the DC voucher program is the nation's first and only federally-funded private and religious school voucher program. Under the federal voucher pilot program, funds were provided to schools even though they infuse their curricular materials with specific religious content and even though they are not covered by many of the nation's civil rights statutes that would otherwise protect students against discrimination. Additionally, each of the congressionally-mandated studies to explore the pilot program concluded that the voucher program had no significant effect on the academic achievement.

Cato Institute recommendation to vote YES: (4/28/2016): The Obama administration has repeatedly worked to undermine or eliminate the DC school choice program, even though it has the support of local Democratic politicians such as the DC Mayor and a majority of the DC City Council. Low-income students shouldn't be condemned to low-quality schools just because their parents cannot afford a home in a wealthy neighborhood. The DC program was an important step toward breaking the link between home prices and school quality.

Legislative outcome: Passed by the House 240-191-3; never came to a vote in the Senate.

Source: Supreme Court case 15-H0010 argued on Oct 21, 2015

2017-18 Governor, House and Senate candidates on Education: Martha McSally on other issues:
AZ Gubernatorial:
David Garcia
Doug Ducey
Frank Riggs
Fred DuVal
Jan Brewer
JL Mealer
Phil Gordon
Steve Farley
AZ Senatorial:
Ann Kirkpatrick
Deedra Abboud
Doug Marks
Jeff Flake
JL Mealer
Joe Arpaio
John McCain
Kelli Ward
Kyrsten Sinema
Mark Kelly

Freshman class of 2019:
"Freshman class" means "not in Congress in January 2017", with exceptions:
* Special election, so sworn in other than Jan. 2019
** Served in Congress in a previous term
*** Lost recount or general election
Freshman class of January 2019 (Republicans):
AZ-8*:Lesko
CA-39***:Kim
FL-6:Waltz ; FL-15:Spano ; FL-17:Steube
GA-7:Woodall
ID-1**:Fulcher
IN-4:Baird
IN-6:Pence
KS-2:Watkins
MN-1:Hagedorn ; MN-8:Stauber
MS-3:Guest
MT-0*:Gianforte
NC-9***:Harris
ND-a:Armstrong
NM-2***:Herrell
OH-12*:Balderson ; OH-16:Gonzalez
OK-1:Hern
PA-9:Meuser ; PA-11**:Smucker ; PA-12*:Keller ; PA-13:Joyce ; PA-14:Reschenthaler
SC-4:Timmons
SD-0:Johnson
TN-2:Burchett ; TN-6:Rose ; TN-7:Green
TX-2:Crenshaw ; TX-3:Taylor ; TX-5:Gooden ; TX-6:Wright ; TX-21:Roy ; TX-27*:Cloud
VA-5:Riggleman ; VA-6:Cline
WI-1:Steil
WV-3:Miller
Freshman class of January 2019 (Democrats):
AZ-2**:Kirkpatrick ; AZ-9:Stanton
CA-49:Levin ; CA-10:Harder ; CA-21:Cox ; CA-25:Hill ; CA-39:Cisneros ; CA-45:Porter ; CA-48:Rouda
CO-2:Neguse ; CO-6:Crow
CT-5:Hayes
FL-26:Mucarsel-Powell ; FL-27:Shalala
GA-6:McBath
HI-1**:Case
IA-1:Finkenauer ; IA-3:Axne
IL-4:Garcia ; IL-6:Casten ; IL-14:Underwood
KS-3:Davids
KY-6***:McGrath
MA-3:Trahan ; MA-7:Pressley
MD-6:Trone
ME-2:Golden
MI-8:Slotkin ; MI-9:Levin ; MI-13:Tlaib ; MI-13*:Jones ; MI-11:Stevens
MN-2:Craig ; MN-3:Phillips ; MN-5:Omar
NC-9***:McCready
NH-1:Pappas
NJ-2:Van Drew ; NJ-3:Kim ; NJ-7:Malinowski ; NJ-11:Sherrill
NM-1:Haaland ; NM-2:Torres Small
NV-3:Lee ; NV-4**:Horsford
NY-14:Ocasio-Cortez ; NY-11:Rose ; NY-19:Delgado ; NY-22:Brindisi ; NY-25:Morelle
OK-5:Horn
PA-4:Dean ; PA-5:Scanlon ; PA-6:Houlahan ; PA-7:Wild ; PA-17*:Lamb
SC-1:Cunningham
TX-7:Fletcher ; TX-16:Escobar ; TX-29:Garcia ; TX-32:Allred
UT-4:McAdams
VA-2:Luria ; VA-7:Spanberger ; VA-10:Wexton
WA-8:Schrier
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Page last updated: Jun 05, 2020