Where is the American Child’s Future Headed?

This presidential election is one of the most crucial in recent memory and has the potential for causing drastic changes on many vital issues, but particularly education. The two candidates that we are focusing on are current President George W. Bush and his opponent Senator John Kerry.

In 2001, President George W. Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act that was the most comprehensive education reform bill in the United States history. The bill was intended to overhaul the current education system by mandating that every state develops their own accountability plan so that each state’s students are consistently scoring at grade level in key subject areas such as reading and math. The act has become so controversial because of its reliance on standardized testing for students and its notorious under funding. Other key educational issues this election year are teacher incentives, the amount of accountability expected among schools, and closing the achievement gap between students.

President Bush, of course, created the No Child Left Behind Act and advocates its preliminary success since implementation in 2002. He is asking voters for their continued patience so that the full effects of the No Child Left Behind Act can be seen. President Bush proposed his 2004 budget, which called for increasing education funding to $53 billion yet the No Child Left Behind Act remains under funded by $27 billion. He supports teacher incentives such as loan forgiveness for teachers in highly needed fields and he has expanded tax relief and recruitment programs (Bush, America’s). He has increased school safety by calling for zero tolerance in all public schools. His campaign contends that his reforms have given power back to the states, allowing them to make the critical decisions affecting their students.

Senator John Kerry supported the No Child Left Behind Act back in 2001 and continues to call for increased spending on the act. Both John Kerry and John Edwards are proposing the creation of a “National Education Trust Fund” which will guarantee that the federal government meets its monetary obligation to funding education initiatives. He wants to shift the focus of the No Child Left Behind Act from standardized tests for students to more comprehensive individual assessments. He supports teacher incentives, but specifically only for math and science teachers. Senator Kerry plans on fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act by repealing President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for families who make more than $200,000 a year. Some of Senator Kerry’s plans are vague in their wording and where the money will come to fund them.

Our group was unable to come to a consensus on who would be the better candidate for President of the United States of America. Our group was split equally, two for President Bush and two for Senator John Kerry, similar to how the country is currently divided regarding politics. We were split because we each looked at change and progress within the White House differently. The bush supporters thought that if he were given another four-year term he would be able to improve our country’s education system effectively. The Bush supporters thought that putting a new man into office would delay any progress on education reform because the new president would be focused on so many diverse issues while still acclimating to his new position. However, the Kerry supporters looked at Bush’s last four years in office as a failure in terms of education and believed that a change in the oval office would help bring about positive change in terms of the education system within the United States.

Graphic: http://www.puertorico-herald.org/images/2004/10-head2head-en.jpg