Topics in the News: NCLB
Paul Ryan on Education
: Aug 11, 2012
No Child Left Behind spends more money, but without results
It is imperative that we allocate our resources in the most efficient manner possible and do not simply hope that spending more money on education without innovative solutions and greater accountability will improve our educational system.Enacted in
2002, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) highlights greater parental involvement in education, targets more federal education resources to schools that need the most assistance, and increases accountability for our nation's schools. As a result of NCLB, the
federal government is now spending far more money for elementary and secondary education than at any other time in American history. For these unprecedented levels of spending, I do not believe we are achieving the results that have been sought.
In an
effort to reform NCLB and federal education policy, I have been a vocal supporter of the bipartisan A-PLUS Act. This initiative seeks to empower those in the best position to make curriculum decisions: parents, teachers, the school districts, and states.
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Source: 2012 House campaign website, ryanforcongress.com, "Issues"
Paul Ryan on Education
: Aug 11, 2012
A-PLUS: Local decisions, not one-size-fits-all mandates
Many educators and parents have expressed frustration with the numerous federal requirements that have come with NCLB funding. The A-PLUS Act allows local school districts to implement their own, individual education plans. While still allowing
for federal support, it would provide States freedom from the onerous one-size-fits-all mandates. The most critical decisions would be made by educators who are closest to the students, rather than bureaucrats in Washington.
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Source: 2012 House campaign website, ryanforcongress.com, "Issues"
Virgil Goode on Budget & Economy
: Apr 21, 2012
Balance the budget now, not in 10 years, by cutting agencies
It is incumbent on our next President to propose a balanced budget upon taking office and not ten years down the road. There will be pain, but the old saying that one will not get out of the hole by digging the hole deeper is accurate. Nearly every
department and agency will face significant cuts and some will face elimination. Veterans benefits is an example that will not be cut. Examples of programs eliminated include the National Endowment for the Arts, No Child Left Behind, etc.
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Source: 2012 presidential campaign website goodeforpresident2012.com
Barack Obama on Budget & Economy
: Jan 8, 2012
Obama economic stances compared to Romney
Do Obama and Romney disagree on school vouchers? (Yes). Do they both like "No Child Left Behind"? (No).
We cite details from Romney's books and speeches, and Obama's, so you can compare them, side-by-side, on issues like these:
Romney vs. Obama on Economic Issues
- Corporation Policy
- Financial Bailout
- Wall Street Reform
- Economic Stimulus
- Trickle-Down Economics
- National Debt
- Balanced Budget
- Campaign Finance Reform
-
Card Check
- Unemployment
- Social Security Privatization
- Trust Fund
- Entitlement Policy
- Tax-and-Spend Policies
- Death Tax
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: Paperback: Romney vs. Obama On The Issues
Ron Paul on Education
: Apr 19, 2011
No-Child-Left-Behind hooks institutions on federal funding
Not too many years ago, however, the Republican Party platform argued for getting rid of the Department of Education. This pretense was removed with the election of George W. Bush in the year 2000.
With both Democratic and Republican support, he massively increased the Department of Education with the disastrous No Child Left Behind program.
Now national control of all public schools is firmly a bipartisan effort. It doesn't seem to matter that students, parents, administrators, and teachers generally disapprove of No Child Left Behind.
Once an institution is hooked on federal financing, it's virtually impossible to stop the bureaucratic regulations and mandates that routinely follow subsidies.
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Source: Liberty Defined, by Rep. Ron Paul, p. 80
Joe Biden on Education
: Oct 2, 2008
No Child Left Behind was left behind
BIDEN: I hope we’ll get back to education because I don’t know any government program that John is supporting, not early education, more money for it. The reason No Child Left Behind was left behind is the money was left behind, we didn’t fund it.
PALIN: You mentioned education and I’m glad you did. I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving.
Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. We have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It’s not doing the job though.
We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind. We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching. My kids as public school participants right now, it’s near and dear to my heart.
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Source: 2008 Vice Presidential debate against Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin on Education
: Oct 2, 2008
We need more flexibility in No Child Left Behind
PALIN: You mentioned education and I’m glad you did. I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving.
Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. We have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It’s not doing the job though. We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind.
We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching. My kids as public school participants right now, it’s near and dear to my heart.BIDEN: I hope we’ll get back to education because I don’t know any government program that
John is supporting, not early education, more money for it. The reason No Child Left Behind was left behind is the money was left behind, we didn’t fund it.
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Source: 2008 Vice Presidential debate against Joe Biden
Sarah Palin on Education
: Aug 20, 2008
294 Alaska public schools progressed under NCLB
Congratulations to the staff at the 294 Alaska public schools that made adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards for the 2007-2008 school year. Our schools faced a higher bar in 2007-2008 for the percentages of
students who score proficient in language arts and math assessments. Congratulations to the many schools that continue to improve in student achievement but may have fallen short in 1 or 2 of the 31 categories schools are held accountable for in NCLB.
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Source: Alaska Governor’s Office: August 2008 Newsletter
Barack Obama on Education
: Jul 1, 2008
Make math & science policy a national priority
Obama also has detailed plans to improve our nation's primary and secondary schools:- 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.
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Source: Obamanomics, by John R. Talbott, p. 61-62
Barack Obama on Education
: Jun 15, 2008
We need real commitment to education; instead we got NCLB
These past eight years will be remembered for misguided policies & missed opportunities. We still have no real strategy to compete in a global economy. Just think of what we could have done. We could have made a real commitment to a world-class education
for our kids, but instead we passed “No Child Left Behind,” a law that--however well-intended--left the money behind and alienated teachers and principals instead of inspiring them. 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.
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Source: Speech in Flint, MI, in Change We Can Believe In, p.246-7
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Apr 16, 2008
End predatory student college loan rates over 20%
I’m a strong supporter of early childhood education and universal pre-kindergarten. I’m against No Child Left Behind as it is currently operating. And I would end it, because we can do so much better to have an education system that really focuses
in on [students].
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Source: 2008 Philadelphia primary debate, on eve of PA primary
Ron Paul on Principles & Values
: Feb 7, 2008
We lost because we’re neither compassionate nor conservative
The old Reagan days when we used to say to get rid of the Department of Education! That’s what we ought to be doing. So when we got our chance, what did we do? We doubled the size of the Department of Education. We put No Child Left Behind. We’ve
lost credibility, and now we’re losing House seats. We’ve lost control of the House and Senate, and right now it looks like we’re going to lose even more. It’s not because we are not compassionate; it’s because we’re not CONSERVATIVE that we’re losing.
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Source: Speeches to 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference
Barack Obama on Education
: Feb 2, 2008
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
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Source: Campaign booklet, “Blueprint for Change”, p. 20-23
Ron Paul on Principles & Values
: Jan 24, 2008
The Republicans don’t act like Republicans anymore
My biggest concern is they won’t stick to the party principles that Republicans stood for so long: balanced budgets and limited government and individual freedom. The Republican Party has a problem because we don’t act like Republicans. We’re spending
money that we don’t have, we’ve run up these deficits. In the old days we used to be against the Department of Education; now we’ve doubled the size of it. No child Left behind. Even the Democrats are running against some of the things that we do.
They used to love that kind of stuff. It used to be that we stop the wars. We stopped the Korean War. We were supposed to stop the Vietnam War the Democrats started. Here we’re starting these wars. That’s why we’ve lost our way. So I don’t think it’s
a matter of me leaving the Republican Party. Yet they say: Oh, you’re too strict on the Constitution. Why should us who believe strictly in the Constitution, the rule of law, be excluded? That’s what the Republican Party used to stand for.
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Source: 2008 GOP debate in Boca Raton Florida
Barack Obama on Education
: Dec 13, 2007
Get parents re-engaged in educating the children
Oftentimes minority children are already behind when they start school. Not just talking about how great teachers are but giving them more money and more support. Changing no child left behind so that we’re not just teaching to a test and crowding out
programs like art and music that are so critical. You asked earlier about sacrifices that I’ll ask from the American people. One of the things that I want to do is get parents reengaged in instilling a sense of excellence in their children.
And I’ve said this all across the country when I talk to parents about education, government has to fulfill its obligations to fund education, but parents have to do their job too. We’ve got to turn off the TV set, we’ve got to put away
the video game, and we have to tell our children that session not a passive activity, you have to be actively engaged in it. If we encourage that attitude and our community is enforcing it, I have no doubt we can compete with anybody in the world.
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Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate
Mitt Romney on Education
: Dec 12, 2007
Bush was right on No Child Left Behind
Bush was right to fight for No Child Left Behind, because we allow states now to test our kids and see how well they’re doing, particularly in math and English. We’ve made the same effort in our state, actually before No Child Left Behind was passed. We
test our kids; we have high standards. We teach them in English, English immersion. We also put in place incentives for kids to do well. For those that take the graduation exam, which you have to take to get out of high school, we say that you’re going
to get, if you score in the top 25 percent on the test, a four-year tuition-free scholarship to a Massachusetts institution of higher learning. The federal government insists on those tests and those standards. We have to have higher pay for better
teachers. And people who are not good teachers ought to find a different career. We need more parental involvement. School choice, better pay for better teachers, high standards, scholarships for the best kids, English immersion: These principles work.
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Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Ron Paul on Education
: Dec 12, 2007
Encourage homeschooling & private school via tax writeoff
It used to be the policy of the Republican Party to get rid of the Department of Education. We finally get in charge and a chance to do something, so we doubled the size of the Department of Education and we have No Child Left Behind. The teachers & the
students don’t like it, and the quality of education hasn’t gone up while the cost of education has. We need to release the creative energy of the teachers at the local level. We can immediately give tax credits. I have a bill that would give tax credits
to the teachers to raise their salaries. We should encourage homeschooling & private schooling and let the individuals write that off. The parents have to get control of the education. It used to be parents had control of education through local
school boards. Today it’s the judicial system and the executive branch of government, the bureaucracy, that controls things, and it would be predictable that the quality would go down. The money goes to the bureaucrats and not to the educational system a
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Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Barack Obama on Education
: Sep 13, 2007
We need a sense of urgency about improving education system
Q: How would you assess the American education system, how well is it doing from K to high school?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.
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Source: Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Sep 13, 2007
We have not yet reached consensus on education reform
Q: Has the debate so far in this campaign paid enough attention to education?A: I don’t think it has. In the debates that we’ve had, education is an afterthought. But when I go out and campaign all over the country, it’s really on the minds of people.
And I’ve outlined a very vigorous education agenda starting with universal prekindergarten, changing No Child Left Behind, making college affordable, finding programs for training and apprenticeship for kids who don’t go to college.
Q:
Why has education not come along as fast as other societal changes?
A: I think it’s a combination of a lot of factors. Everybody is an expert on education because we all went to school. And therefore, local control means that there are millions upon
millions of opinions in America about what we should do. I don’t think we have reached a consensus that reflects the reality today. Our public school system worked so well for America for so long. We’ve got to make sure it works as well for our future.
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Source: Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Sep 13, 2007
AR Ed Reform taught that there is a place for testing
Q: How do you feel about the testing mania forced upon our children by No Child Left Behind?A: I believe in accountability. In 1983, I led the effort in Arkansas to improve our schools, and I do think there is a place for testing.
But we should not look at our children as though they are little, walking tests, and we’ve gone way overboard. So I would like to see us do assessments, but understand we need a broad, rich curriculum that honors the spark of learning in every child.
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Source: Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate
Barack Obama on Education
: Aug 19, 2007
We left the money behind for No Child Left Behind
I’ve had a lot of discussions with teachers. And they feel betrayed and frustrated by No Child Left Behind. We shouldn’t reauthorize it without changing it fundamentally.
We left the money behind for No Child Left Behind, and so there are school districts all across the state and all across the country that are having a difficult time implementing No Child Left Behind.
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Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on “This Week”
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Aug 19, 2007
Incentive pay for school wide performance
Q: What about performance-based pay? A: Well, I have long supported incentive pay for school wide performance. You know, what we’re trying to do is to change the culture within schools and to provide the resources, the training and the support that
teachers need to do the job they do want to do. You have to reform No Child Left Behind. We’re going to try to do that and begin to make it much more in line with the reality of teaching.
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Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on “This Week”
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Aug 8, 2007
Total change in No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind has been a terrible imposition on teachers & school districts & families & students. Part of it is because it was an unfunded mandate. And part of it is that the Dept. of Education under Pres. Bush did not absolutely enforce it and
interpret it in the right way. So we need growth models for students. We need broader curriculum. We need to make sure that when we look at our children, we don’t just see a little walking test. We’ve got to have a total change in No Child Left Behind.
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Source: 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum
Joe Biden on Education
: Jul 23, 2007
Voting for No Child Left Behind was a mistake
Q: Everyone else on this stage who was in Congress in 2001 voted for No Child Left Behind. Would you scrap it or revise it?It was a mistake. The reason I voted for it, against my better instinct, is I have great faith in Ted Kennedy, who is so devoted
to education. But I would scrap it--or I guess, theoretically, you could do a major overhaul. But I think I’d start from the beginning. You need better teachers. You need smaller classrooms. You need to start kids earlier. It’s all basic.
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Source: 2007 YouTube Democratic Primary debate, Charleston SC
Mitt Romney on Education
: May 15, 2007
Changed from closing Education Dept. to supporting NCLB
Q: You have been criticized for changing your position on some issues. You say that it’s a part of learning from experience. Can you point to an area in which your learning from experience led you to change to a position that is less popular with the
Republican base?A: Sure, quite a few, actually. One is No Child Left Behind. I’ve taken a position where, once upon a time, I said I wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That was my position when I ran for Senate in 1994.
That’s very popular with the base. As I’ve been a governor and seen the impact that the federal government can have holding down the interest of the teachers’ unions and instead putting the interests of the kids and the parents and the teachers first,
I see that the Department of Education can actually make a difference. So I supported No Child Left Behind. I still do. I know there are a lot in my party that don’t like it, but I like testing in our schools. I think it allows us to get better schools
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Source: 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
Joe Biden on Education
: Feb 21, 2007
NCLB needs more resources, but also is fundamentally flawed
Q: What do you plan to do about No Child Left Behind? Do you believe that this issue is simply one of never having provided the resources to carry out the original mission of the program or are there other fundamental flaws inherent in a program with so
much emphasis on teaching to the test? A: Both. I sleep with a teacher every night -- my wife. She taught high school -- had three remedial classes and two advanced classes. Those kids in the remedial class went from sixth grade to
10th grade, and they were still penalized. Those kids in the advanced class, she didn’t have to do a thing with. They passed the test. There is something fundamentally wrong with it. And we’ve underfunded it by about $70 billion. We know the
problem:
- Classrooms are too big; we need smaller classrooms, period.
- A lot of teachers are going to be retiring. We need a program where we attract the best and brightest students coming out of our colleges to be teachers, and pay them.
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Source: 2007 AFSCME Democratic primary debate in Carson City Nevada
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Dec 12, 2006
2001: Proposed and passed National Teacher Corps
The standards and accountability movement has grown dramatically over the last decade. The No Child Left Behind Act became law, and it has laid bare the problems in many of our poorest, worst-performing schools.
We can no longer say that we didn’t know that these schools were failing some of our most vulnerable kids. To improve the quality of education, we need to improve instruction in the classroom.
Nationwide, two million teachers will leave teaching over the next decade. NYC already loses 30% more math teachers and 22% more science teachers than it certifies every year. IN 2001, I proposed the
National Teacher Corps, which brings teachers into the classroom, and a new initiative that would provide more schools with strong principals. Both became law.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: 2006 intro to It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton, p.304-305
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