Kery cares more about public schools than Bush though:
Detailed Plan to Strengthen Public Schools
National Education Trust Fund Part of Plan for First 100 Days
John Kerry is outlining a real plan to improve K-12 education and make sure that all children get the skills they need to meet the needs of the 21st Century economy. John Kerry has consistently criticized George W. Bush for signing the No Child Left Behind Act and then leaving schools in a lurch by not funding the bill. However, he also believes that a President or a Presidential candidate should not just be a Critic-in-Chief, but should provide a real plan and a real vision for America’s schools.
A Three Part Plan to Improve America’s Schools
First, Kerry will form a New National Education Trust Fund that will guarantee that the Federal government meets its obligation to fully fund education priorities. Our children are too important to be subject to the whims of budget cutters in Washington DC.
Second, Kerry would fight to change the No Child Left Behind law to assure that our schools focus on teaching high standards to all children, and do not become drill and kill test prep institutions. John Kerry has already proposed the most comprehensive higher education plan of any candidate. Today, he is outlining a plan to assure every child has the skills to be ready for college.
Third, Kerry is stating his main priorities in education – from higher teacher pay for higher standards to assuring discipline.
George W. Bush: A Photo-Op President that Shortchanges America's Schools
When it comes to education, George W. Bush has been the photo-op President. He stands with children and teachers for a picture, but he doesn’t stand with them when it comes to improving our public schools. In fact, by signing the No Child Left Behind Act and then breaking his promise by not providing the resources to help meet new standards, George Bush has undermined public education for the nation’s 53.7 million students. President Bush walked away from his commitment to fund public education, shortchanging public schools by $6 billion this year and he is on track to fall $8 billion short for next year. That means less money for after-school, teacher training, and our highest poverty schools.
A New National Education Trust Fund
John Kerry believes it is time to stop sending mandates from Washington to school districts without providing the resources needed to carry them out. Kerry will make a new deal on education – if Washington is going to mandate accountability for our schools, then the funding should be mandatory. Kerry is proposing a “National Education Trust Fund” to make sure that, for the first time ever, the federal government meets its obligation to fully fund our education priorities.
A Mandatory Trust Fund: Today, education spending is at the discretion of Congress. That means it is vulnerable to Presidents like George W. Bush who send new mandates to the states, but don’t provide the necessary funding. Under Kerry’s National Education Trust Fund, any new education program Congress authorizes will be automatically funded by law. That would mean Congress and the Administration would be prohibited from mandating a program and not funding it.
Full Funding for Elementary and Secondary Education. Kerry’s “National Education Trust Fund” will require an increase in our annual investment in education from its current level of $23.8 billion to about $35 billion by 2008 to meet the full commitment of No Child Left Behind. If NCLB were fully funded this year, Iowa would receive an additional $42 million.
Meeting Our Full Commitment for Special Education. Special education costs are stretching school budgets to the limit, but the federal government only provides less than half of the money that it promised to states and localities to educate children with special needs. The Trust Fund will assure the Federal government meets its full commitment so that children with disabilities get the education they deserve and that funding for special education doesn’t come at the expense of other critical education programs. In Iowa, fully funding special education will bring an additional $1.2 billion to the state over the next ten years.
State Tax Relief and Education Fund. Largely because of the Bush economy, states are being forced to cut back on education. At least 18 states were planning or considering cuts to education this year due to state fiscal crisis. Consequences include teacher layoffs, school closures, and shortened school years. John Kerry has put forward a Fund to stop these cuts. It would invest $25 billion to stop cuts and layoffs in education.
Lessons Learned: Improving the No Child Left Behind Act
John Kerry believes that the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act -- ensuring that all students learn to high standards and closing the achievement gap -- are the right ones for America’s children. However, to date we have fallen short of these goals due to insufficient funding and problems with the law. Kerry will make important changes to the No Child Left Behind Act to help students reach high standards.
Judge Schools On More Than Just Test Scores. Kerry believes that we need to consider indicators of school performance other than simply test scores. Kerry will revise the accountability standards in No Child Left Behind to include ways of assessing student performance in addition to testing. Under Kerry’s proposal, states will construct a set of leading indicators, subject to review and approval by the U.S. Department of Education, which will comprise part of the school's assessment in the NCLB accountability framework. Possible indicators include graduation rates, teacher attendance, parental satisfaction, and student attendance.
Reward States That Implement High Standards. Kerry is also concerned that No Child Left Behind unintentionally rewards states and districts with low standards and penalizes those with high standards. Since schools, districts, and states are punished if they fail to make adequate progress, the incentive is to set expectations lower rather than higher. Kerry will work to include incentives in the law to reward states, districts, and schools that implement higher standards.
Ensure the Law Works for States, Schools, and Teachers. John Kerry will also support reforms that give states and school districts greater freedom to target assistance to schools with the most extensive academic difficulties; ensure that the federal government provides funding for professional development requirements in the law; require that every single group or program that receives funding from No Child Left Behind fully complies with federal civil rights laws; and close loopholes in the law’s definition of “highly qualified” teachers.
Improving K-12 Education: Support - Not Soundbites - for America's Teachers.
The evidence is clear that the quality of a student’s teacher is the single biggest factor in the quality of a child's education. While most politicians just talk about the importance of teachers, John Kerry believes we must actually do more to support and reward teaching. In order to reach our goal of all students learning to high standards, we need highly-qualified teachers and principals in every school and classroom. This challenge is even greater given that two million teachers must be hired over the next decade to accommodate rapidly growing student enrollment and an aging teaching force.
"Higher Teacher Pay for Higher Standards” John Kerry believes that we cannot successfully improve public education without paying our teachers like the professionals that they are. Kerry’s proposal will provide higher pay for teachers in exchange for implementing higher standards. In order to qualify for funding, school districts will have to submit a plan that includes strong professional development plan for the district’s teachers; an aggressive plan to ensure that every teacher is qualified in his/her subject area; and a plan for increasing the number of master teachers and teacher mentors in schools.
Improving K-12 Education: Recruit and Train School Principals
School Leaders Are Critical to a School’s Success. Many of today’s principals are reaching the age of retirement, and there is clear evidence that reveals a decline in the number of candidates for each opening. The attrition rate for elementary school principals now stands at 42 percent for the decade from 1988 to 1998, and it is expected to remain at least as high through this decade. A strong principal can create the climate that fosters excellence in teaching and learning while an ineffective one can quickly thwart the progress of the most dedicated teachers and reformers.
John Kerry’s Plan to Help Recruit and Train School Leaders. Kerry will invest in high-quality school leaders by providing $120 million annually for the School Leadership Program to recruit and train principals in every low-performing or high-needs school across the country.
Improving K-12 Education: Ensuring School Discipline and Creating 'Second-Chance Programs'
Classrooms Without Discipline Are Ineffective: If a classroom or a school is not safe and orderly most other education proposals and ideas are ineffective. Kerry will ensure that teachers and school districts can remove chronically disruptive and violent students from the classroom. Violent or disruptive students are often in desperate need of services, supports, and greater levels of attention than are provided in the traditional classroom. We have a choice: Either we can help these young people while they are in school, while we know where to find them or we can deal with them later when they drop out of school or end up in the juvenile justice system.
Kerry’s Plan to Assure Discipline and Give Kids a Second Chance. Kerry would rather invest in these young people today. Kerry will ensure that all chronically disruptive or violence students removed from classrooms will be placed in alternative learning environments, “second-chance schools” where they can receive the intensive help and service they need to excel. Kerry will insist that alternative education programs are of high quality so that students can make the progress and improvements necessary to reach high standards.
Improving K-12 Education: Investing in School Construction and Modernizing
Schools Are in Need of Repair: We can’t ask America’s kids to meet high standards in schools that are falling down. There are $127 billion worth of school construction and emergency repair needs nationally; 14 million children are learning in substandard schools in need of major renovation; and half of all schools have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition, such as polluted drinking water or soot-filled ventilation.
Kerry’s Plan for School Construction: John Kerry supports allowing the federal government to issue $24.8 billion in school modernization bonds in order to help states and school districts repair and build modern schools. In order to expand choice within the public school system, Kerry’s school construction fund will include dedicated funding for charter schools. The greatest barrier to the expansion of charter schools is the lack of funding for facilities. |
