Education in the Election

Parsing the Two Platforms

David Griffith

The Democratic and Republican parties' 2012 national platforms, recently released and approved at their respective conventions, outline significantly different approaches to education reform. The party platforms, which used to include specific policy prescriptions, now highlight each party's broad vision for an array of issues, including education, and provide a starting point for understanding their varying priorities and perspectives.

Same Destination, Different Routes

The Republican and Democratic education platforms share the same goal: A "world-class" education for all students that ensures that the United States remains globally competitive. But the paths they outline for getting there are decidedly different.

The GOP platform prioritizes state and local control of education, and in keeping with this view, strongly emphasizes the need to rein in federal education spending. "Clearly, if money were the solution," states the platform, "our schools would be problem-free." Instead of more money, it recommends more choices—including vouchers, tax credits, homeschooling, single-sex classes, full-day school hours, year-round schools, charter schools, virtual schools, and career and technical education programs—so that parents can place their children in learning environments that will help them realize their full potential. In fact, the platform describes "consumer rights in education—choice—as the most important driving force for renewing our schools."

The Democratic platform, on the other hand, calls for reducing the deficit "while still making the investments we need in education." And although it recommends "expand[ing] public school options for low-income youth, including magnet schools, charter schools, teacher-led schools, and career academies," it stops short of describing choice as the primary school improvement solution.

Two Takes on Accountability

Both parties recognize the value of high academic standards. Although neither party's platform mentions the Common Core State Standards by name, the Democratic platform refers to the 46 states that have raised standards "so students graduate ready for college or career." It also discusses "the importance of turning around struggling public schools."

Meanwhile, the GOP platform calls for shared accountability "on the part of administrators, parents, and teachers" at all stages of schooling and transparency so that the public "can discover which schools best serve their students."

From Highly Qualified to Highly Effective

Both the Republican and Democratic platforms affirm the importance of evaluating teacher performance and recognizing and rewarding good teachers. The GOP platform specifies that such evaluation systems should determine performance based on classroom results. The Democratic platform doesn't detail evaluation system components but does say such systems should "give struggling teachers a chance to succeed and protect due process if another teacher has to be put in the classroom."

And while the Democratic platform suggests raising standards for teacher preparation programs, the GOP platform emphasizes using nontraditional teaching candidates from business; from science, technology, engineering, and math; and from the military.

And what should these educators be teaching? The GOP emphasizes "the fundamentals, especially math, science, reading, history, and geography" and "building on the basics, especially STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) and phonics." It also recommends a "renewed focus on the Constitution and the writings of the Founding Fathers, and an accurate account of American history that celebrates the birth of this great nation."

The Democrats emphasize science, engineering, and math, too, but they also articulate support for programs providing art and music education in primary and secondary schools. "The entire nation prospers when we protect and promote the unique and original artistic and cultural contributions of the women and men who create and preserve our nation's heritage."

Polar Opposites on Paying for College

Although the two parties agree that higher education institutions, including community colleges, play a pivotal role in preparing our nation's young people for the jobs of the future, they propose different strategies on how to keep postsecondary education costs in check. The GOP platform proposes to put student aid on a more sustainable path by getting the federal government out of "the business of originating student loans" and encouraging private sector participation in student financing.

Conversely, the Democrats tout their investment in Pell Grant scholarships; their provision of the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth up to $10,000 over four years of college; and their efforts to ensure federal student loan payments are only 10 percent of students' monthly earnings.

In the coming installments of this three-part series, we'll take a closer look at candidate Obama and candidate Romney's positions on education.

David Griffith is ASCD's Public Policy Director.

ASCD Express, Vol. 8, No. 1. Copyright 2012 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.