Pennsylvnia Federation of College Republicans

As the election nears, one issue seems to have been given the backseat to the economy, energy and Iraq: education.  McCain and Obama have fundamental differences about how to change the education system in America and one of the most talked about differences is school choice or vouchers.

Recently Senator Obama pandered to the American Federation of Teachers convention when he said “What I do oppose is using public money for private school vouchers. We need to focus on fixing and improving our public schools; not throwing our hands up and walking away from them.” 

Senator McCain has said that he supports measures such as charter schools, home schooling, vouchers, while rewarding good teachers and getting rid of underperforming teachers. While I am not saying vouchers are the only solution to the problem, they are, as we have seen in Washington DC, extremely effective. Vouchers can jump start the education debate and make sure that school districts, administrators, and teachers are meeting standards or their students will go elsewhere. How can we ask parents of children in struggling districts to sit and watch, in the hope that Congress and the President will fund meaningful legislation? Vouchers are not the be-all end-all, but they are a step in the right direction by giving parents more choices and taking the decisions out of the hands of politicians.

So if Senator Obama can have the luxury of choosing which school to send his children ($20,000 a year), why can’t he give that opportunity to every parent? 

See more at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121607849587752587.html

Tags: Chris Huether, education, Nobama

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 8:40 am by CHuether and is filed under Viewpoint. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.