Education ideas there, but attention isn't

LIMA - Economic and energy concerns have left little room in this presidential election for another domestic policy "E": education.

Despite the lack of attention, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain do have policy proposals on everything from rewarding good teachers to revisiting No Child Left Behind.

The candidates have taken different approaches to the issue.

As late as this July, McCain's Web site information on his education policy fit on a single page. Parental choice is the cornerstone of his philosophy on public education. Current policy proposals now include bonuses for high-performing teachers and more money for technology and online learning.

Obama's Web site includes a 15-page policy paper filled with ideas such as teacher mentoring programs and scholarships in return for teaching in high-need areas, but also big spending increases such as quadrupling Early Head Start funding.

Teachers

Both plans put an emphasis on holding teachers accountable and rewarding good ones.

McCain wants to use 60 percent of federal funding for teacher development and accountability for incentive bonuses. The money would go directly to high-performing teachers in challenging environments, teaching high-need subjects or demonstrating student progress. He would devote 5 percent of the funding to states to recruit top-graduating teachers or those who participate in alternative recruitment programs. The remaining 35 percent would be spent by schools on professional development.

Obama would create teacher service scholarships, providing free educational rides to those who would teach in a high-need field or location. A complementary program would provide 30,000 teachers in high-need schools in rural and inner city schools. He would also expand mentoring programs and promote new ways to reward teachers.

K-12

McCain voted for President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation and has said the act should be the beginning, not the end, of education reform.

Obama wants to fully fund the law and said he would improve assessments and its accountability system so schools needing improvement are supported, "rather than punishing them," according to his Web site.

Both candidates talk about making math and science national priorities. Obama also talks about addressing a "dropout crisis" with intervention strategies in middle school and after-school, college access and summer programs.

One of McCain's guiding principles on education reform is giving parents greater choice and control over public education dollars.

"Too many of our children are trapped by geography and by economics in failing schools," McCain's Web site says. "Choice is the best way to protect children against a failing bureaucracy."

While most of Obama's policies are geared toward public school districts, he does support charter schools and has said he would double federal funding, from the current $200 million to $400 million, for them.

Early education

The candidates have some stark differences on early education: While McCain would focus federal resources on "ensuring the neediest children have access to a range of high quality programs," Obama touts a "comprehensive zero to five plan" with large expansions of Early Head Start, Head Start and encouraging states to adopt "voluntary universal preschool."

Some policies start from different philosophies but end up at similar places, such as competitive funding to improve Head Start programs.

Obama would work from a model he helped create in Illinois and create early learning challenge grants that states would earn by matching funds, meeting quality and accountability standards and other things.

McCain believes too many Head Start centers "have fallen prey to the same institutional flaws that have undermined the larger public education system." He would create grants for best-practice Head Start centers and also create measurable standards.

Higher education

Universities must modernize and maintain their top reputations in the world, McCain says. That happens by supportive innovative approaches and removing regulatory barriers, McCain believes.

McCain would improve the flow of data collected by the federal government about institutions to parents. He would also simplify higher education tax benefits so more eligible parents would claim them and simplify federal financial aid programs and applications.

One of Obama's signature targeted tax cuts in his campaign is the annual $4,000 refundable tax credit for college tuition, covering "two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students." Obama would make the credit available to families at the time of enrollment. He would also streamline the financial aid application process.

In the U.S. Senate, Obama's first bill sought to increase the maximum Pell Grant award and later helped pass legislation that achieved that.