Education

**Education.** =By: Brittany & Sarah. =


===The government's main role in education is to support No Child Left Behind (NCLB). ( [|White House] ) NCLB is legislation to better the performance of the United States "primary" and "secondary" schools. This act also provides more flexibility in choosing what schools children go to. ( [|Wikipedia] ). President George Bush feels NCLB is a key to success for learning. ( [|White House] ) The federal government plans to prepare students for the challenging world by giving equal amounts of great education. ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">[|ED] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">) The current problems include the funding toward education, the quality of teaching, the status of the teaching profession, student academic work and testing, racial functioning and an opportunity for equal education. ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">[|Alongman] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">) Education should build a passion of learning and build life-time learners for our future. ([|Projo])   ===

=<span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(246,164,96)"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">What "hot topics" within this issue are being addressed by the candidates? = <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"> ===<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">NCLB: One of the most talked about hot topics is the NCLB. Although McCain and Obama thought this law would take off, some people say it has failed to provide high-quality teachers and failed to support and pay those teachers. ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">[|edweek] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">) The reason NCLB was left behind because the money was left behind: The act wasn't fully funded. ([|barackobama]) McCain and Obama also focus on <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">making college more affordable so people have a better chance of going to college and getting a good full education. (This is an inference from both ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">Barack Obama <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">), ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">[|John McCain] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">) and ( <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">[|US NEWS] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">).   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">School Vouchers:  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">School vouchers are “public” money given to parents which they will use to help pay for their child to go to private school. While parents who need it are all for it, some judges are not! In Florida a Judge ruled that the “ Florida state constitution forbids using public funds to pay fees for religious schools” ([|BBC]). === <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"> ===<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">**This graph below shows how much the Congress, Bush, and NCLB Was promised in contrast with how much was actually allocated to the No Child Left Behind Act. There was not enough money funded, so the NCLB did not take off as well as Bush had hoped. “NCLB is on the the agenda this election because it has brought our attention to the students and how they perform against common standards. NCLB is very important because it is helping more and more children each year find the right school and helping with taking tests. NCLB was created for parents and children: This helps with finding the right schools.” (** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">[|associatedcontent] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">) === <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive"> ===media type="youtube" key="hSTzLILQx3c" height="344" width="425" <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">Here is a video that will help you learn a little bit more about NCLB if you don't know much about it!! ===

=<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">  <span style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(26,168,46); TEXT-ALIGN: left">What are the candidates' positions? = === McCain feels NCLB was a good beginning. "We now, after a while, know that there are some things that badly need fixing," he said. ([|usnews]) So far McCain plans to focus on local education and expanding virtual learning. ([|npr]) McCain wants to help district schools replicate successful programs. He also wants to make it easier for private companies to open charter schools that increase competition for district schools. ([|azcentral])  McCain also favors parental choice of schools. He thinks parents have the right to choose home schooling and also wants more money for college education. ([|boston]) But most of all, McCain is for parental choice and empowerment. He wants to make it easier for students in standard schools to take funding with them, either if it's a tutoring company or another public or private school. ([|features.csmonitor]) Obama's point of view of NCLB is that teachers feel frustrated by NCLB. "We shouldn't change it without changing it fundamentally," he says. ([|usnews]) Obama is suggesting a list of how students perform against common standards. He wants to lengthen the school day and expand aid to early childhood and get special programs for struggling students as early as 6th grade. ([|azcentral]) He has also made a zero to five plan. This will provide support for children and their parents. This plan will encourage early care and education for smaller children. ([|barackobama]) He also encourages (but doesn't require) pre-kindergarten programs and expanding teacher-mentoring programs. ([|boston.com/page2]) But most of all Obama is for strategic investment. He wants more federal money to put good teachers into high-needs schools, increase charter-school options, and increase early childhood development. ([|features.csmonitor]) === ===   In the video below Obama and McCain express their views on education. Obama wants to get the education system right. People are debating between more money or more reform. He thinks we need both. Obama wants every child to be prepared for school. He wants to recruit more teachers in math and science. He believes that the good teachers should be rewarded with more pay and higher standards. A big topic for Obama is making college affordable. Some people can't afford college and they aren't going at all. Obama says he will give $4,000 tuition credit in exchange for for community service for college. McCain says that we have achieved equal access to schools in America after a terrible struggle. He says we shouldn't send a child to a failed school, and that be your only choice. In charter schools we want to take good teachers and promote and reward them. Then McCain wants to take bad teachers out of the classroom. They should send their children to schools of their choice regardless of if they are rich or poor. === media type="youtube" key="_8SWPExIxTE" height="344" width="425" <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">Above, we have a video of Barack Obama speaking on his beliefs on education.
===media type="youtube" key="t8DUM4CwkiE" height="344" width="425" <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">To the left we have a video of McCain speaking on his beliefs of education. Enjoy<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive">!! ===