Hillary Clinton on Education Secretary of State; previously Democratic Senator (NY); 2016 Democratic nominee

Sub-sections under Education:
• Arkansas Ed Reform
• College Policy
• Education Funding
• School Choice
• Votin
• Voting Record
• Other issues under Education

Common Core is most important non-family enterprise in US

Clinton initially responded to the question about how to fix the U.S. educational system by praising Common Core. She then said that families today are too "negative" about the current system, a system Clinton described as "the most important non-family enterprise" in the country. After noting what she described as "unfortunate" opposition to Common Core, Hillary Clinton also dismissed the concerns of Common Core opponents by saying they just "do not understand the value" of the controversial top-down curriculum.

Stein: Replace Common Core with curriculum developed by educators, not corporations, with input from parents and communities.

Trump: "I believe Common Core is a very bad thing. I think that it should be local education."

Unconstitutional to post Ten Commandments in schools

Clinton: In Mrs. Clinton's Senate race in 2000, Mrs. Clinton stated that the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools is a violation the Constitutional separation between church and state. Source

Provide every student an education in computer science

CLINTON: Advances in science and engineering start with education. We need universal preschool, to get our kids off to a good start; good K-12 schools and teachers in every ZIP code; and to put higher education in reach for everyone with debt-free college and support for high-quality apprenticeships and training programs. We need strong STEM programming in every school, and we need to provide every public school student with access to education in computer science. Both basic and applied research are major drivers of innovation. Funding is needed not only for the basic science research agencies and the large science and engineering mission agencies but also for the broader universe of agencies that are increasingly dependent on STEM for their missions.

Testing system based on a core curriculum has value

• Common Core: "It's very painful because the Common Core started off as a nonpartisan effort--it wasn't politicized. Iowa has had a testing system based on a core curriculum for a really long time. And [Iowans] see the value of it, they understand why that helps organize their whole education system. And a lot of states unfortunately haven't had that, and so don't understand the value of a core, in this sense a Common Core."
• Equity and upward mobility: "We have to do things differently, but it should all be driven by the same commitment to try to make sure that we educate every child. That's why I was a senator and voted for [NCLB], because I thought every child should matter and shouldn't [be told], 'You're poor' or, 'You've got disabilities, so we are going to sweep you to the back; don't show up on test day because we don't want to mess up our scores'. No! Every child should have the same opportunity; we've got to get back to basics."

Teach discipline, self-control & patience in schools

• Non-cognitive skills: "I believe it is time we get back to teaching discipline, self-control, patience, punctuality. The biggest complaint that I hear from employers is that young people who show up for jobs don't have those habits. They don't get there on time. They don't know how to conduct themselves appropriately."
• Teacher pay: "We don't pay teachers what they deserve to be paid--in other countries that have better test scores than ours, teachers get paid much more. We have a lot of people who come out of school burdened with student loans and decide they can't go into teaching, so we lose a lot of good young people."
• School spending: "Let's put money into what we know does work, like smaller class sizes, higher teacher pay, and better curriculum. Let's use interventions that work. That means extended learning time, it means summer school, it means stronger parental involvement from the very beginning of a child's schooling."

Teach Bible as history & literature; not science or religion

Let's get back to schools where kids are socialized

OpEd: Common Core recycled from Clintons in 1980s and 1990s

Marc Tucker and Hillary Clinton apparently had plans to have national standards, national tests, national curriculum, and a national database way back in the 1980's. The "Dear Hillary" letter, written on Nov. 11, 1992 by Marc Tucker, lays out a plan "to remold the entire American system." This is now the blueprint for the Common Core plan.

Tucker's ambitious plan was implemented in 1994 in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and the School-to-Work Act. These laws establish [using] "national standards" and "national testing" to cement national control.

Parents are a child’s first teachers

We have not yet reached consensus on education reform

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.

It takes a village; American village has failed our children

I have fought for more than 35 years for early childhood education, for more mentoring, for more parent education programs, to get our children off to a good start. I have fought to make sure that schools were fair to all children. That’s the work I did in Arkansas, to try to raise the standards particularly for the poorest of our children, and most especially for minority children. And certainly in the White House years, and now in the Senate, I’ve continued that effort because I don’t think there is a more important issue.

But I also believe we cannot separate the education part from the economic part. There is still discrimination in the workplace. There are still people who are turned down and turned away who have qualifications and skills that should make them employable. So this is a broader issue that we have to address.

Establish right to education from pre-school thru college

Early education affects things from IQ to lifelong earnings

2001: Proposed and passed National Teacher Corps

Teacher testing only for new teachers

Q: Is it true what he says - that you’re for testing new teachers but not teachers who are already in the system?

CLINTON: That’s right. And that’s what the New York law is. You know, I agree that we should be testing new teachers. I believe that we ought to have pay for performance where we evaluate teachers. I think we ought to streamline the due process standards so that teachers that don’t measure up would no longer be in the classroom.

Testing only new teachers respects professionalism

Q: Are you trapped by the teachers unions?

CLINTON: No. In fact I’m very much in line with what I think will work and what experts in the field think. You know, I’m a lawyer. I had to take a bar exam. Mr. Lazio’s a lawyer. He took a bar exam and he wasn’t tested every five years. I think teachers are professionals and should be treated as professionals. That’s why I believe that we should test teachers in the beginning to make sure that when they got their teaching degree, that they’re qualified.

Teachers need more peer consulting & more recognition

Social promotion cheats our children

Read to young kids 20-30 minutes daily

Entire school staff should focus on school safety

Metal detectors at school are not much of an intrusion

Arts education is needed in our schools

Give kids after-school activities to prevent gangs

Allow student prayer, but no religious instruction

• Students may participate in prayer during the school day, as long as they do so in a non-disruptive manner and when they are not engaged in school activities.
• Schools should open their facilities to student religious organizations on the same terms as other groups.
• Students should be free to express their beliefs about religion in school assignments.
• Schools may not provide religious instruction, but they may teach about the Bible, civic values and virtue, and moral codes, as long as they remain neutral with respect to the promotion of any particular religion.

Character education: teach empathy & self-discipline

Supports Goals 2000: hardly the stuff of revolution

1. All children in America will start school ready to learn
2. High school graduation rates will increase to at least 90%
3. All students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter
4. US students will be first in the world in science & math
5. Every adult will be literate and will possess the skills necessary to compete in a global economy
6. Every school will be free of drugs & violence
7. Teachers will have access to continuing education
8. Every school will promote partnerships with parents.

Supports structured inner-city schools, with uniforms

1960s: Taught reading in poor Boston neighborhoods

Hillary emphasized education reform without political agenda

AR Ed Reform taught that there is a place for testing

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.

1986: HIPPY program empowers parents as kids' first teach

In 1986, Hillary helped establish a HIPPY program in Arkansas. Hillary wrote, "When we brought HIPPY into rural areas and housing projects in Arkansas, a number of educators and others did not believe that parents who had not finished high school were up to the task of teaching their children. Not only did the program help kids get jump-started in the right direction, it also gave the parents a boost in self-confidence." In 1988, HIPPY USA was established as an independent NGO headquartered in New York City. There are now about 146 HIPPY programs in twenty-five states, serving more than sixteen thousand children anf their families.

Sent Chelsea to public schools in Arkansas, but not DC

A: No, it’s not correct. Chelsea went to public schools, K-8th grade, until we moved to Washington. And then I was advised, and it was, unfortunately, good advice, that if she were to go to a public school, the press would never leave her alone, because it’s a public school. But we were very pleased she was in public schools in Little Rock.

1983: Teacher testing as part of AR education reform

In addition to teacher-testing, the plan that Hillary and her education task force eventually formulated required that all local school districts adopt uniform, state-imposed standards for curriculum and classroom size.

When Hillary announced the plan to the state legislature, she called teacher-testing the real heart of the reform package. It was clear that the state’s teachers would therefore oppose it.

Exactly how Hillary decided that teacher-testing might be the smoothest road to education reform is unclear. Democrats were generally opposed to the idea. Hillary was sure that testing teachers’ competence and holding them to minimum standards would help the schools educate. Hillary also knew her words would appeal to conservatives: “The first purpose of school is to educate, not to provide entertainment or opportunities to socialize.”

1983: AR reforms fixed unconstitutional school financing

Hillary's committee held hearings in every county in the state, getting recommendations from educators and the public. Her report recommended to both raise the sales tax and approve "standards which, when implemented, will be among the nation's best."

Hillary made a brilliant presentation, prompting one Representative to say, "It looks like we might have elected the wrong Clinton!" We had opposition from the anti-tax crowd; rural school districts that feared they couldn't meet the standards; and the AEA teacher's union.

AR Reform plan pushed mandatory teacher testing

This was a risky move. Improving the schools would require an increase in taxes--never popular. The 15-member committee recommended that students take standardized tests, including one before they could graduate from 8th grade. But the cornerstone of the proposed reform plan was mandatory teacher testing. Though this enraged the teachers union, civil rights groups & others who were vital to the Democratic Party in Arkansas, we felt there was no way around the issue. How could we expect children to perform at national levels when their teachers fell short? Gettin the legislature to approve and fund the reform package turned into a knock-down-drag-out fight among interest groups. I pled our case for improving schools before a joint session of the Arkansas legislature, and the reform plan was implemented in 1984.

Arkansas education: improvement against great odds

CLINTON: The work that was done in Arkansas received numerous awards and praise, because we really started something that I’m very proud of. And test scores went up in third grade and sixth grade. High school graduation went up. The work was done against great odds, in a very poor state.

LAZIO: I have a very different perspective on your record in Arkansas. And I would just urge the voters not to rely on what I’m saying, but to look it up.

CLINTON: I’m not here to defend Arkansas. I’m here to run for the Senate to represent New York.

LAZIO: I realize that you don’t want to talk about Arkansas because that experience was a disaster for Arkansas.

CLINTON: I’m happy to talk about it if that’s what you want to spend your time talking about.

LAZIO: That’s your record, Mrs. Clinton. You can’t run away from your record.

Pushed teacher testing in Arkansas

AR ed reform: mandate kindergarten, no social promotion

Hillary outlined her legislative recommendations:
• mandatory full-day kindergarten
• a 20-to-1 pupil-to-teacher ratio
• testing students before they could be promoted
• more math and science units
• recommended that extracurricular activities not interrupt the school day: “When you play, you should play hard. And when you work, you should work hard. But you shouldn’t confuse the two.”

1983: Challenged low education expectations

1993: Public accepted First Lady as education reformer

The first problem Hillary knew she had to tackle was attitude. Students in Arkansas suffered from a terrible sense of inferiority...’the Thank God for Mississippi’ syndrome.

[One political observer said], “Bringing the idea of education reform to the public was an education process for Arkansas. She helped educate the educators. She said: we can’t sit back and let he world go by without us. We’re going to have to compete. We must upgrade our educational standards and our educational systems. And it’s not going to be done overnight...And she did it.”

Long journey for reform, not isolated initiatives

"You show people what you're willing to fight for when you fight your friends," Hillary said. Though the battle was long and a painful political experience, there were benchmarks of progress every 2 years or so along the way: Class size shrank, teacher testing was implemented, reading scores improved slightly. "It took years to see results," she said. But by the end of Clinton's time as governor, people understood his commitment to education was genuine. Isolated initiatives worked less well, she added. "People have got to understand where he wants to take the country."

HIPPY: Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters

The HIPPY program differed from programs like Head Start in that it taught mothers to teach their children at home. As Hillary explained: "Half of all learning occurs by the time a person is five. There are instances where people from very terrible situations rise above them and do well. But those are the exceptions. So a good preschool program, whether it's center-based or home-based, is on the of the smartest investments. What HIPPY does is to provide a very structured way for mothers to interact with their children. A lot of other programs are well meaning, but they basically put too much responsibility on the mother. If the mother knew what she was supposed to do, she would do it."

Passing illiterate students is educational fraud

The road to being someone in this society starts with education, and we intend to be sure that every child in this state is somebody. Because we’re going to give them every chance we can to develop their minds so they can play a role in this state to make it the kind of place it needs to be.

Free college education for families make less than $125000

My plan is debt-free college for young people

CLINTON: Both of us share the goal of trying to make college affordable for all young Americans. I have a compact that would do that for debt-free tuition. We differ, however, on a couple of points. One of them being that if you don't have some agreement within the system from states and from families and from students, it's hard to get to where we need to go.

Experts vetted my college plan, and it works

CLINTON: I believe in affordable college, but I don't believe in free college, because every expert that I have talked to says how will you control the costs. I want to make sure middle class kids, not Donald Trump's kids can afford college. The numbers don't add up, from what Senator Sanders has been proposing. That's why all the independent experts that have vetted both of us have concluded that it is not achievable. Let's go down a path where we tell people what we will do. A progressive is someone who makes progress. That's what I intend to do.

New College Compact: federal match for state investment

CLINTON: There is a lot we can do in college affordability. I have debt-free tuition plans, free community college plans, getting student debt down.

Q: How does your plan differentiate from your opponents'?

CLINTON: Well, I have what I call the New College Compact. Because I think everybody has to have some skin in this game, you know. #1: States have been dis-investing in higher education. States over a period of decades have put their money elsewhere; into prisons, into highways, into things other than higher education. So under my compact, the federal government will match money that the states begin to put back in to the higher education system. #2: I don't believe in free tuition for everybody. So I have proposed debt-free tuition, which I think is affordable and I would move a lot of the Pell Grant and other aid into the arena where it could be used for living expense.

Make community college free, but not free college for all

Gov. O'MALLEY: I believe that the goal should be debt-free college. I believe that our Federal Government needs to do more on Pell grants. We should lower these outrageous interest rates that parents and kids are being charged by their own government.

CLINTON: I believe that we should make community college free. We should have debt-free college if you go to a public college or university. You should not have to borrow a dime to pay tuition. I want to use Pell grants to help defray the living expenses that often make a difference, whether a young person can stay in school or not. I disagree with free college for everybody. I don't think taxpayers should be paying to send Donald Trump's kids to college. I think it ought to be a compact: families contribute, kids contribute. And together we make it possible for a new generation of young people to refinance their debt and not come out with debt in the future.

Refinance all college debt to help 40 million new grads

End predatory student college loan rates over 20%

Transfer tax cuts from rich & corporations to student aid

Fully fund special education & 21st century classrooms

Get more teachers into hard-to-serve areas

Incentive pay for school wide performance

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.

Universal pre-kindergarten; and make family the best school

Working families cannot participate in school between 9 & 3

We have to work more closely with our schools to make them reflect more the way people live today. Working families cannot get there between nine and three. They have to be given a chance to participate with their children in their education.

And we have to respect and honor our teachers and that does require paying them what they deserve. And we have to make college affordable again so that every single middle class and working family can send their children.

Reforms: teacher corps; more federal funding; modernize

What are we going to do about education? I have put forth an education plan that is based on my years of working to reform and improve education.
• I have very specific proposals about lowering classroom size, getting more qualified teachers into the classroom, starting a national teacher corps to recruit young people.
• If they’re willing to teach, they would get a scholarship. As well as some mid-career people that I would like to see, perhaps, go into teaching with some incentives.
• I support the 100,000 teachers from the federal government, which my opponent has opposed -- we need those teachers in New York.
• I also support modernizing our schools with the construction bonds that are a bipartisan piece of legislation that would be such a help to us because we could deal with our repair and construction challenges without having to raise property taxes.

Opposes merit pay for individual teachers

Supports merit pay for entire schools

Scholarships for teachers who go to urban schools

Increase resources to meet increased standards

Address teacher shortage with salary increases

More after-school; smaller classes

Supports public school system: charters but not vouchers

• Vouchers: "I'll tell you why I won't support vouchers. Number one, I don't think they're constitutional. But number two, I don't see how you would implement them without having a lot of people get vouchers for schools that would be teaching things antithetical to American values."
• Charter schools: "I actually do believe in charter schools."
• Public education: "The public school system has been, I believe, second to the Constitution, the most important institution in making America the great country that we have been over the last 200 plus years."

Vouchers aren't constitutional; charter schools are ok

Total change in No Child Left Behind

Supports public school choice; but not private nor parochial

Years earlier, Hillary tried to play centrist on the school choice debate. In It Takes a Village she said she supported “choice among public schools” but redefined “school choice.” Instead of helping provide choice between public and private schools, she uses choice to mean choice among public schools. She wrote “some critics of public schools urge greater competition among schools as a way of returning control from bureaucrats and politicians to parents and teachers. I find their arguments persuasive, and that’s why I strongly favor promoting choice among public schools.”

More teachers, smaller classes, no vouchers

Vouchers would take money from public schools

CLINTON: I could not support vouchers that would take money away from schools where teachers are in partitioned hallways, where the teacher has the only textbook in the classroom. If we can get class size down, if we can provide qualified teachers, we can make a difference. I support adding 100,000 teachers to lower class size. I support the bipartisan school construction funding authority that would permit New York to have school construction without raising taxes.

LAZIO: I have voted twice to support hiring additional teachers. Under my plan, New York would not get shortchanged. Under Mrs. Clinton’s plan, New Yorkers would be subsidizing Southern states. I think it’s immoral to force a child to go to a school where they can’t learn. Poor parents want to have the choice to give their children the education that I want for my children. I trust parents to make that decision, and that’s a major philosophical difference.

Vouchers drain money from public schools

CLINTON: I’ve visited schools throughout the state and some of them are among the finest in the world that you could find anywhere. But others are overcrowded, under-resourced. That’s why I put forth a plan to try to get the teachers that we need and to provide the funds that are required for modernizing our schools, as well as setting high standards, making them safe from violence. I do not support vouchers. And the reason I don’t is because I don’t think we can afford to siphon dollars away from our underfunded public schools.

LAZIO: I believe that it’s immoral to ask a child to go to a school where they can’t learn or where they’re not safe. 80 percent of African-American and Hispanic parents feel that they need it. Why should we trap poor kids in failing schools simply because the teachers unions won’t agree with it?

Vouchers will not improve our public schools

Let’s build up our schools-not tear them down

Charter schools provide choice within public system

Charters meet needs of failing public school students

Vouchers siphon off much-needed resources

Parents can choose, but support public schools

Supports public school choice and charter schools

Charter schools are public schools created and operated under a charter. They may be organized by parents, teachers, or others. The idea is that they should be freed from regulations that stifle innovation, so they can focus on getting results. By 1995, 19 states had enacted charter school laws about 200 schools have been granted charters.

The Improving America’s Schools Act, passed in October 1994 with the President’s support, provided federal funds for a wide range of reforms, including launching charter schools. Federal funding is needed to break through bureaucratic attitudes that block change and frustrate students and parents, driving some to leave public schools.

Voted against vouchers; but public school choice ok

Clinton: Does not like voucher programs. While she does support school choice as it exists as a form of public education, Clinton has always been opposed to allowing public funds to be used toward private and religious schools. As a New York Senator, Hillary Clinton voted against voucher programs in the state in 2001.

Stein: "Charter schools are not better than public schools--and in many cases they are far worse. They cherry-pick their students so they can show better test scores. The treasure of our public schools system has been assaulted by the process of privatization."

Trump: "We've got to bring on the competition--open the schoolhouse doors. Education reformers call this school choice, charter schools, vouchers, even opportunity scholarships. I call it competition--the American way."

Fix No-Child-Left-Behind with Every-Student-Succeeds-Act

Rep. Bernie Sanders voted in favor of the initial NCLB bill in May 2001, but voted against the final version in December 2001. Sen. Hillary Clinton voted in favor of both the initial NCLB bill and the final bill.

On the new ESEA bill, Sanders voted for the initial bill in the Senate education committee; then voted in favor on the Senate floor and in favor of the conference committee version. Hillary Clinton announced her support for the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is widely considered a fix to No Child Left Behind's worst flaws.

Solemn vow never to abandon our public schools

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.

Voted YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors.

Voted YES on funding student testing instead of private tutors.

Voted YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction.

Offer every parent Charter Schools and public school choice.

Create World-Class Public Schools
Now more than ever, quality public education is the key to equal opportunity and upward mobility in America. Yet our neediest children often attend the worst schools. While lifting the performance of all schools, we must place special emphasis on strengthening those institutions serving, and too often failing, low-income students.

To close this achievement and opportunity gap, underperforming public schools need more resources, and above all, real accountability for results. Accountability means ending social promotion, measuring student performance with standards-based assessments, and testing teachers for subject-matter competency.

As we demand accountability, we should ensure that every school has the resources needed to achieve higher standards, including safe and modern physical facilities, well-paid teachers and staff, and opportunities for remedial help after school and during summers. Parents, too, must accept greater responsibility for supporting their children’s education.

We need greater choice, competition, and accountability within the public school system, not a diversion of public funds to private schools that are unaccountable to taxpayers. With research increasingly showing the critical nature of learning in the early years, we should move toward universal access to pre-kindergarten education.

Goals for 2010
• Turn around every failing public school.
• Make charter schools an option in every state and community.
• Offer every parent a choice of public schools to which to send his or her child.
• Make sure every classroom has well-qualified teachers who know the subjects they teach, and pay teachers more for performance.
• Create a safe, clean, healthy, disciplined learning environment for every student.
• Make pre-kindergarten education universally available.

Rated 82% by the NEA, indicating pro-public education votes.

The National Education Association has a long, proud history as the nation's leading organization committed to advancing the cause of public education. Founded in 1857 "to elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of popular education in the United States," the NEA has remained constant in its commitment to its original mission as evidenced by the current mission statement:

To fulfill the promise of a democratic society, the National Education Association shall promote the cause of quality public education and advance the profession of education; expand the rights and further the interest of educational employees; and advocate human, civil, and economic rights for all.

Opposes vouchers to let parents choose public or private school.

The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Education vouchers that allow parents to choose a public or private school for their children' The Christian Coalition notes, "You can help make sure that voters have the facts BEFORE they cast their votes. We have surveyed candidates in the most competitive congressional races on the issues that are important to conservatives."