New Jersey 2006 Senate Debate: on Education

Robert Menendez: Democrats pushed college tuition tax deductions

Robert Menendez: Reducing duplication is no solution for education problems

KEAN: It is vital that we ensure that aid to low-income students is our principle goal and the first priority of the system must be direct aid to students. We must reduce fraud in the current system. Pell Grant fraud cost $600 million between 2001 to 2004. Through the use of technology, we can curb systemic fraudulent abuse of the system. We should look for ways to merge duplicative programs and streamline federal regulation to provide additional savings.

MENENDEZ: My opponent isn’t interested in more funding and research for New Jersey’s public colleges and universities. Calling to combine a few federal programs is not a solution. In the state senate, Tom Kean Jr. consistently voted against state budgets providing financial aid for higher education. And, now he is merely providing cookie-cutter rhetoric to legitimate questions as to how we can expand access to the halls of higher learning.

Robert Menendez: Educational Savings Accounts are only for the wealthy

KEAN: While my opponent voted against the creation of Educational Savings Accounts, I believe they are an important component in providing educational opportunities for young people and parents. Parents and others can contribute collectively up to $2,000 each year to a Coverdell education savings account to be used for qualified educational expenses, like home computers, books, supplies, after-school programs, tuition, and tutoring programs. I think Congress should provide tax deductibility as an incentive to spur greater savings.

MENENDEZ: Tom Kean Jr. has no plan to help New Jersey’s families pay for college. And, he has no plan to increase financial aid. The only plan Tom Kean Jr. has-on this and nearly every issue-is to do whatever President Bush tells him to. Unlike my opponent, I believe that wealth and privilege ought not to be the only tickets to higher education.

Thomas Kean Jr.: Focus on reducing fraud and duplication in Pell Grants

KEAN: It is vital that we ensure that aid to low-income students is our principle goal and the first priority of the system must be direct aid to students. We must reduce fraud in the current system. Pell Grant fraud cost $600 million between 2001 to 2004. Through the use of technology, we can curb systemic fraudulent abuse of the system. We should look for ways to merge duplicative programs and streamline federal regulation to provide additional savings.

MENENDEZ: My opponent isn’t interested in more funding and research for New Jersey’s public colleges and universities. Calling to combine a few federal programs is not a solution. In the state senate, Tom Kean Jr. consistently voted against state budgets providing financial aid for higher education. And, now he is merely providing cookie-cutter rhetoric to legitimate questions as to how we can expand access to the halls of higher learning.

Thomas Kean Jr.: Supports Educational Savings Accounts for college

KEAN: While my opponent voted against the creation of Educational Savings Accounts, I believe they are an important component in providing educational opportunities for young people and parents. Parents and others can contribute collectively up to $2,000 each year to a Coverdell education savings account to be used for qualified educational expenses, like home computers, books, supplies, after-school programs, tuition, and tutoring programs. I think Congress should provide tax deductibility as an incentive to spur greater savings.

MENENDEZ: Tom Kean Jr. has no plan to help New Jersey’s families pay for college. And, he has no plan to increase financial aid. The only plan Tom Kean Jr. has-on this and nearly every issue-is to do whatever President Bush tells him to. Unlike my opponent, I believe that wealth and privilege ought not to be the only tickets to higher education.