TRANSITION | Forming the next government
10 March 2008
Education Unlikely to Be Predominant Campaign Issue
Americans not particularly concerned about educational reform
Washington -- In the past five elections, education was one of the major issues discussed on the campaign trail, but this is not the case in 2008.
The biggest issues in American politics are "peace and prosperity," explained William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "When one of them is on the table in a particular [election] year, that is the dominant issue."
"When both are on the table simultaneously, that … is the election," Galston said at a forum about educational issues and presidential politics hosted by the American Enterprise Institute March 3. "That is what the debate is going to be about."
In an election season dominated by discussions on Iraq and the economy, education so far has gotten little attention from the presidential candidates. Health care, climate change and other issues also are cited often as more important to voters than education.
Chester Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, an organization that promotes and evaluates education issues, said there are a number of reasons why education might not be a dominant issue in 2008. For instance, “people may be wary and frustrated … with how much talk there has been about educational reform in previous elections.”
Some voters may feel that “there really isn’t all that much a president can do about America’s schools,” Finn explained. “He or she does not have much actual leverage over what is taught and what is learned and who teaches what to whom.”
Additionally, many Americans believe that educational standards have improved in the past few decades and therefore are less concerned about educational reform.
“Parents today view materials that their kids are using in school as significantly harder than the materials they used and their kids’ education as significantly better than theirs,” said Galston.
Americans are more concerned with school discipline, Galston said. He cited a recent Public Agenda survey that found that 73 percent of those asked said school discipline was more important than improving educational standards. Public Agenda is a New York-based nonprofit research organization that does opinion surveys on a range of issues.
THE CANDIDATES’ VIEWS
In the coming months, the candidates might discuss educational policy a bit more and try to define their positions on the topic. However, if "today's candidates thought education was a winning issue or an important issue in the '08 election … we'd know it by now," Finn said.
Education might not be the dominant issue, but the candidates will address the topic in speeches and on their Web sites.
Presumed Republican nominee John McCain indicated in a speech March 4 that he will be discussing education during his general election campaign.
“We will campaign in favor of … educating our children to prepare them for the new economic realities by giving parents choices about their children's education that they do not have now,” McCain said.
McCain has favored allowing students to attend public schools outside their home district if their parents feel they are not receiving an appropriate education. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have so far not advocated such a view.
McCain generally has supported President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, while Clinton and Obama have been more skeptical of its success, citing concerns over lack of funding for its initiatives.
No Child Left Behind, signed in 2002, calls for improving American educational standards by holding schools accountable for how well their students perform. Its effectiveness continues to be debated.
On the campaign trail, Clinton and Obama have discussed ways to improve education by recruiting more teachers.
For more on where the candidates stand on education and other key election issues, see U.S. Elections: Candidates on the Issues.
