Candidate Comparison: Education

This is the fifth in a series of posts about where the six front running presidential candidates stand on the issues. The information is from the Pew Forum. Previous posts were on abortion, the Iraq War, Gay Marriage and Poverty.

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Hillary Clinton
Clinton opposes vouchers for private schools, instead favoring increased funding for public schools. She says voucher programs exacerbate divisions within communities, and could result in schools that are based on radical religious ideologies. When the Clintons were in the White House, they were criticized for sending daughter Chelsea to a private school while they advocated for public schools.

John Edwards
Edwards says children should be allowed time to pray on their own in schools, but that school-led prayer is inappropriate. He opposes school vouchers because he says they would "divert resources and energy from reform and divert students into the only schools that don't have to meet high standards."

Rudolph Giuliani
As mayor, Giuliani advocated a school voucher program that would use tax dollars to send students to private schools, including religious schools. He opposes prayer in schools, but defended a teacher fired for praying with students, saying she should have been given another chance.

John McCain
McCain supports vouchers that would allow students to attend public or private school, including religious schools. He says he believes that only God could have created the earth, but does not believe it was created in seven days. In February 2007, McCain spoke at an event sponsored by the Discovery Institute, a think tank known for promoting the concept of "intelligent design." He says Darwin's theory of evolution is "valid" but students should be "exposed to every point of view."

Barack Obama
In a debate during his 2004 senate campaign, Obama said he opposed government vouchers and tax credits to attend private schools because they would undermine efforts to improve the public school system. His opponent, Alan Keyes, criticized Obama for being against school vouchers while sending his two daughters to private schools in Chicago.

W. Mitt Romney
Romney has expressed support for means-tested vouchers – through which households below a particular threshold receive vouchers of equal value – that would fund student attendance at public or private schools, including religious schools. He has advocated giving local school districts increased control over curriculum as long as they do not endorse specific religious beliefs or prayer in schools. As Massachusetts governor, Romney supported abstinence education programs in public schools. He opposes taking the words "under God" out of the pledge of allegiance.

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This is an interesting topic that encompasses differing views on vouchers, prayer, evolution, sex education and private schools. I found it interesting that even the staunchest advocates of public schools send their children to private ones. I think that this issue is closely linked to the Poverty issue.