MEA Votes

Six days from now people will go to the polls. Votes will be counted. What I’m wondering is where will public education stand when all said and done?

Here’s a quick rundown of the top education issues for this election and should be a concern for every politician.

No Child Left Behind – An unfulfilled law, never fully funded, created in 2001 by George Bush and heavily pushed by the Republican Party. The law was designed to increase student achievement and raise accountability. The problem is that Bush and his friends in Congress never fully funded NCLB; the law was too rigid, provided no room for flexibility or creativity. As a result, a lot of our schools and students are labeled as failures. So much for the idea of inclusion!

Vouchers – No matter which way you slice it, using public taxpayer dollars to provide vouchers (some even call them scholarships) to attend private schools that aren’t required to meet the same standards as public schools and can selectively determine which students they admit … is not a good thing. We cannot afford to siphon resources away from public schools anymore.

Alternative Pay – There has been much debate about merit pay. Yes, all educators (including the millions of support professionals in school districts) deserve better pay! And teachers especially don’t mind being held accountable. Still, it is not a good policy for students, teachers, schools, or districts to based pay on the test scores of students. If we pay them what they are worth in the first place, merit pay wouldn’t be much of an issue.

College Affordability – The National Education Association has launched a successful campaign geared toward raising awareness about the rising costs for colleges and universities. The “Got Tuition?” campaign is crossing the country, making stops at college campuses, registering volunteers, and talking with media outlets in an effort to make sure millions of students are afforded the opportunity to go to college. The next president and those seeking public office have to make this a priority, starting with restoring money to the Pell Grant program and implementing innovative solutions like fully refundable tax credits and loan forgiveness programs.

So, don’t forget education when you head to the polls. Let’s make education a priority again.

By Cory Wofford, NEA staff working in Michigan