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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > September > 09 > Entry
Obama will talk about education in Dayton Tuesday
The word is Barack Obama will be talking about education policy on a visit to Stebbins High School Tuesday. I’ll have a report for the scene after he speaks.
Daytonians interested in education, and how Obama thinks about it, have been fortunate. When he came here in the summer he gave his education talking points after a question from the audience.
Where does Obama actually stand on education? That is an interesting question.
Is he sympathetic to teacher unions, who want to junk No Child Left Behind? Or his he in the camp of the school reformers, Democrats (especially in inner cities) that favor school choice, vouchers and other experiments. Obama has been vague about where he stands, enough so that both camps are trying to claim him as one of their own.
In Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, writer Paul Tough deconstructions where Obama stands on education and suggests some policy ideas he already has (or might yet) embrace.
Tough, who has written some insightful education pieces for the magazine, cites Susan Neuman’s research and her forthcoming book, which says the U.S. must invest much more heavily in early childhood programs. During my sabbatical year at the University of Michigan in 2004-05, I studied under Neuman, a Michigan professor and former assistant U.S. education secretary under President Bush.
Neuman helped craft No Child Left Behind only to later become disillusioned with the law. When I knew her at Michigan, she had a lot of ideas for improving federal education law and was just beginning work on the soon-to-be-released book. In short, she believes effective early childhood programs should be replicated and focused on needy pre-schoolers, rather than mandated for all young children regardless of need. In this way, Neuman believed costs — which can be high for universal pre-school programs — could be better controlled.
Check out the magazine story for more. I’ll try to post an update from the Obama event after he speaks Tuesday.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Tracking Barack Obama
Comments
By Scott Elliott
September 9, 2008 2:56 PM | Link to this
David, they are not using the schools for free. They rent the gyms as a place to hold their events. Schools do commonly rent their facilities. At today’s event, the school had no formal role in the event and only a few students attended the event. I don’t know how those students came to be there or why. There was a story in the Washington Post this week about this issue of using schools for campaign stops that you might find pretty interesting. It focused on McCain’s use of schools in Virginia that had official policies banning political events.
By Davidss2
September 9, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this
A poster in another discussion asked about using schools as a campaign location. Ohio Revised Code 3313.17 �public schools are not allowed to engage in candidate or ballot issues� How does the attorney general feel about using two local schools as free campaign sites? I would like to have Scott Elliott check into that potential violation of the use of schools funds.
By Mary
September 9, 2008 7:38 AM | Link to this
The impression I have got from some news articles and segments is that Obama is severing some traditional Democratic strangleholds with the teachers’ unions. I’ll believe it when I see it. CNN’s Lou Dobb’s “Independent Convention” on at 7PM all this week will discuss education issues on Friday, where the two parties and their candidates stand, or what they are not taking a stand on.