Lincoln Chafee on Education Former Republican Senator (RI, 1999-2007)

Supports NCLB’s standardized testing, if federally funded

WHITEHOUSE: When NCLB passed, there was a promise from the Bush administration that the additional burdens that NCLB puts on the public schools would be funded by the federal government. They broke that promise. Things that are important to the learning of children--have been thrown over the side so teachers can teach to that test.

CHAFEE: I do believe that some kind of testing is a good idea. We had some in Rhode Island before NCLB came along -- we in Rhode Island were already doing it. Nationally, I do think it’s a good idea to have some kind of standard testing--some parameters to see how everyone’s doing at various grade levels. The difficulty is in the funding. We can mandate this testing but it’s expensive. If we don’t provide the resources, it ends up going to the local level, which is the property tax, and I think that’s wrong. If we’re going to mandate something at the federal level, we should pay for it.

Fund special education before tax cuts for the wealthy

CHAFEE: You want to return any kind of tax cuts you can to the citizens and every politician likes to do that. That’s popular. But at the same time, I wanted to be responsible, having been a mayor and then going to the Senate, my view was let’s help the property taxpayer before we help the tax cuts for the wealthy. The way we do that is fund a program that the Congress started in 1970 for the special education that helps in our schools which is all the property taxes and fund that special education. We promised in 1970 to get to 40%. We’re not above 20%. So I said before we cut the taxes for the wealthy, let’s fund this special education program. Get it up to the 40% we promised back in 1970, and that goes right to the property taxpayer before we help the wealthy.

LAFFEY: First, Chafee failed on funding the IDEA program. Two, he has voted for No Child Left Behind which is about $27 billion and counting unfunded mandate that’s going on seemingly forever.

Supports parents choosing schools via vouchers

As Mayor of Warwick, Senator Chafee demonstrated a strong commitment to the improvement of public schools. In Congress, Senator Chafee has championed an array of programs designed to promote the education of all children, including those with special needs.

Supports vouchers & charters, plus more public funding

Supports the following principles concerning education:
• Support national standards and testing of public school students.
• Allow parents to use vouchers (equal opportunity scholarships) to send their children to any publicly-funded school.
• Allow parents to use tax-free savings accounts to send their children to any publicly-funded school.
• Support charter schools where teachers and professionals receive authorization and funding to establish new schools.
• Support teacher testing and reward teachers with merit pay.
• Increase funding for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
• Support affirmative action in public college admissions.
• Increase funding of programs such as Pell grants and Stafford loans to help students pay for college.
• Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.

Voted NO on $52M for "21st century community learning centers".

Voted NO 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 NO on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors.

Voted NO on funding student testing instead of private tutors.

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

Voted NO on Educational Savings Accounts.

Focus educational resources to help those with greatest need.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) helps to fulfill the most basic mission of federal education programs—equal opportunity for all children. To help improve the federal role in education, the Republican Main Street Partnership has identified the following areas that should receive priority during the reauthorization of IDEA:

• Focus resources to help those with the greatest need, particularly the disadvantaged and disabled
• Target Title I funds, those specifically designed to aid disadvantaged students, to students with the greatest need
• Although Title I funds are already allocated according to population and poverty, more funds must be targeted to our neediest schools. We propose funding, for the first time, grants that send at least a portion of Title I funds solely on the basis of need.
• Increase the maximum award under Pell Grants to help first-generation & low-income students continue their education
• Increase the maximum award for students from low-income families to restore the balance between grants and loans, particularly among those with the greatest need.
• Continue efforts to increase federal funding for IDEA to help states and locals offset the cost of providing a ëfree appropriate public educationí for students with special needs
• Move federal funding toward its goal of providing up to 40 percent of the average cost of educating a disabled child.
• In addition, we need to better evaluate the effectiveness of this program and ensure that federal funds for IDEA—particularly in light of recent funding increases—are being targeted to our students with real learning disabilities.
• Finally and most important, any fiscal incentives must be examined to ensure that the overidentification of learning disabled students is prevented, and our efforts must focus on the regular evaluation of the program to ensure that our special needs children are truly being provided a "free appropriate public education."

Require state standards, regular assessments, and sanctions.

To help improve the federal role in education, the Republican Main Street Partnership has identified the following areas that should receive priority:
• Require states to implement high standards of achievement in core subject areas, such as reading, math, writing, and science, for all students.
  Nearly all states have established high standards for education content in reading, writing and math. To continue to be eligible for Title I funds, we must ensure that states meet these standards.

• Require states to demonstrate success in raising the performance of all students -- from those who score below basic to those who are already proficient -- and narrowing the gap between disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers.
  Without regular assessments, we cannot determine how well students are achieving with respect to each state's performance goals. Although states are required to have assessments aligned with their content and performance standards by the 2000-2001 school year, it now seems that no state will be approved in time. To continue to be eligible for Title I funds, states must continue to work toward this goal and waivers must be provided only for those who are making substantial progress toward the implementation of their aligned assessments.

• Establish a meaningful system of rewards for schools that significantly increase student achievement and sanctions for those that fail.
  Schools that consistently fail to make progress toward their stateís own performance goals, after assistance and opportunity to improve, must be sanctioned with corrective actions ranging from the reconstitution of the school staff to the authorization of students to transfer to another public school. Schools that meet or exceed their performance goals should receive monetary awards through a new grant program designed to reward achievement.

Support Ed-Flex: more flexibility if more accountable.

To help improve the federal role in education, the Republican Main Street Partnership has identified the following areas that should receive priority:
• Provide flexibility in exchange for increased accountability.

• Encourage more states to take advantaged of the Education-Flexibility waiver to better align federal programs with state and local priorities.

• Currently, 15 states have Ed-Flex authority and, according to GAO reports, the waiver authority promotes a climate that encourages state and local educators to explore new approaches to education. Ultimately, the states must make the decision to apply for the waiver, but education leaders must encourage states and schools to be innovative in their approach to education improvement.

• Enact new legislation to give states the option to combine education programs and funding in exchange for demonstrated improvements in student achievement at all levels

• In exchange for new flexibility, a participating state would have to show how it would combine and use funds to advance education priorities, improve student achievement and narrow the learning gap. If, after three years, the state has failed to meet its own requirements, the flexibility authority would be terminated and administrative funds would be withheld.

Rated 55% by the NEA, indicating a mixed record on public education.

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.