It's true! Camping on President's day weekend...
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Education, Part 2 (Sorry, Ron Paul!)
Ron, how could I forget you???
RON PAUL:
End federal monopoly on education
Abolish department of education
Schools can be funded by local taxes
Tax credit for parents homeschooling or sending students to private school
$3000 tax credit for teachers
Full tax deduction for college tuition , living expenses and student loan interest
Jennie's analysis:
Hmm, not bad. Great, actually, except for that little thing called poverty. Some areas cannot raise enough in local taxes to operate a school.
So, except for a complete departure from reality in the realm of dealing with poverty and social justice issues, and not dealing with lack of achievement, the achievement gap, drop out rates, etc, I'm with him!
I could live without NCLB, and I think tax deductions for teachers and students is a great idea!
If this were your only issue in voting, I'd place him better than McCain and Huckabee (unless they are hiding a secret plan somewhere) and below Obama and Clinton.
RON PAUL:
End federal monopoly on education
Abolish department of education
Schools can be funded by local taxes
Tax credit for parents homeschooling or sending students to private school
$3000 tax credit for teachers
Full tax deduction for college tuition , living expenses and student loan interest
Jennie's analysis:
Hmm, not bad. Great, actually, except for that little thing called poverty. Some areas cannot raise enough in local taxes to operate a school.
So, except for a complete departure from reality in the realm of dealing with poverty and social justice issues, and not dealing with lack of achievement, the achievement gap, drop out rates, etc, I'm with him!
I could live without NCLB, and I think tax deductions for teachers and students is a great idea!
If this were your only issue in voting, I'd place him better than McCain and Huckabee (unless they are hiding a secret plan somewhere) and below Obama and Clinton.
First up, Education!
**Warning!** Read disclaimer (previous post) first!
Ah, Education. I'm pretty sure this is such a small subject, I can wrap it up quickly. Ha.
Here's the summary:
MIKE HUCKABEE:
Art and Music are important and need to be funded-creativity important
Schools need higher standards
Supports public school choice (I think this doesn't mean school choice in general)
Get rid of incompetent teachers, give bonuses/raises to good teachers
"turnaround specialists" for failing schools (CEO model for failing corporation)
Claimed accomplishments in Arkansas: more music in schools, aggressive reading and math programs in elementary school, higher test scores, raised teacher salaries, more $ to classrooms instead of administration
JOHN MCCAIN:
Need to find solutions for problems identified by NCLB (no child left behind)
Schools need to compete to be effective
Parents should have school choice to send their student elsewhere if there school is failing (as a politician it's hypocritical to refuse school choice when they would not send there own children to a public school).
HILLARY CLINTON:
Bring Universal PreSchool to all 4 yr olds in the US
Expand head start program
Nurse home visitation to first time low income moms (expand current program)-First three cost $10 billion
Early intervention programs for at risk youth-mentor to college and job, double federal support for current programs ($100 million)
Create program to have $$ for communities to measure and deal with their high school drop out rate (including case workers for youth who have dropped out)
Federal funding for small schools programs
Increase early college programs (like running start in WA)
Higher teacher salaries for promotions such as becoming mentors
This $10-$18 package would be paid for by "ending the abuse of no bid contracts and cutting 500,000 government contractors over 10 years)
BARACK OBAMA:
Early Childhood education -quadruple head start funding and early head start funding (preschool program)
Zero-Five Program: A series of proposals such as increasing head start funding, increasing program for nurses visiting new first time low income moms (more details at website)
Summer learning programs for low income students
Increase 21st century after school program
Focus on retention programs for middle school
Small schools grants
Increased funding for educational research
Teaching residency program (a mentoring and recruitment program for teachers like an extended Teach for America, more details at website)
Financial rewards for teachers for taking on additional responsibility or learning new skills
Increase federal pell grant to $6100 to cover 3/4 cost of average public 4 yr tuition, or full cost of community college
Increase college tuition tax credit
Reduce subsidies on private student loan lenders, use $ to increase federal financial aid
This $18 Billion package would be paid for by "delaying NASAs's constellation program (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html) for 5 yrs...auctioning off surplus federal property" closing the "CEO pay deductible loophole" and a bit from the war in Iraq.
Jennie's Analysis:
First of all, neither McCain or Huckabee has what I would call a plan....only policy positions which are easy. Figuring out a starting point for addressing these issues is the hard part. Therefore I won't discuss their plans except to say that I am vehemently opposed to school choice, vouchers, etc. It does appear that Huckabee got some good results in education as governor of Arkansas.
Moving on.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both have extensive (and expensive) plans outlined above. These plans are largely similar, and many more details can be found on their respective websites under the "issues" tab. I'm disappointed that neither of them address federal funding for smaller class size, which is consistently the most important factor in student achievement in study after study over many years (http://www.nea.org/classsize/research-classsize.html). They did hit on the importance of small schools which closely related and has a positive effect (on school safety as well as achievement). However, both plans are well researched in every other way. It is clear that preschool is critical to achievement (as is the first 3 years of life), and it's good to see some new ideas around teacher recruitment, pay, and in general considering treating teachers like the professionals they are. Both address the massive effect of poverty in the education system and bring plans to deal with it. They both acknowledge the high school drop out rate and it's negative effect on society (and the long term cost of not dealing with these problems). I like that they both added how they would pay for their plan. They both addressed that there is highly inadequate (inexcusable) low funding for the mandates of NCLB.
These are very ambitious and others besides the President need to get serious about solving these problems in order for them to work. I hope our country is ready to do some of this! Also, education until NCLB was a largely state level issue, I'm not clear on what is state and federally funded/administered and how that works.
I'd give an edge to Obama on this issue, mainly because he addresses barriers to higher education for low income and middle class families. Also, his plan is much more detailed (it took me much longer to read through it all).
Here's my ranking if you were voting on this issue alone:
1. Obama (add class size subsidies, consider leaving the second generation moon landing on schedule and cutting back the irs instead)
2. Clinton (add class size subsidies, pell grant increases, crack down on student loans; let Cheryl keep her government contracting job at least until Emily and MacKenzie graduate from college...maybe a few other contractors should stick around too)
3. Huckabee (maybe you could explain how you got these results in Arkansas? And hooray for art and music education!)
4. John McCain (please, please tell me you have a plan and you just didn't put it on your website...please?)
Ah, Education. I'm pretty sure this is such a small subject, I can wrap it up quickly. Ha.
Here's the summary:
MIKE HUCKABEE:
Art and Music are important and need to be funded-creativity important
Schools need higher standards
Supports public school choice (I think this doesn't mean school choice in general)
Get rid of incompetent teachers, give bonuses/raises to good teachers
"turnaround specialists" for failing schools (CEO model for failing corporation)
Claimed accomplishments in Arkansas: more music in schools, aggressive reading and math programs in elementary school, higher test scores, raised teacher salaries, more $ to classrooms instead of administration
JOHN MCCAIN:
Need to find solutions for problems identified by NCLB (no child left behind)
Schools need to compete to be effective
Parents should have school choice to send their student elsewhere if there school is failing (as a politician it's hypocritical to refuse school choice when they would not send there own children to a public school).
HILLARY CLINTON:
Bring Universal PreSchool to all 4 yr olds in the US
Expand head start program
Nurse home visitation to first time low income moms (expand current program)-First three cost $10 billion
Early intervention programs for at risk youth-mentor to college and job, double federal support for current programs ($100 million)
Create program to have $$ for communities to measure and deal with their high school drop out rate (including case workers for youth who have dropped out)
Federal funding for small schools programs
Increase early college programs (like running start in WA)
Higher teacher salaries for promotions such as becoming mentors
This $10-$18 package would be paid for by "ending the abuse of no bid contracts and cutting 500,000 government contractors over 10 years)
BARACK OBAMA:
Early Childhood education -quadruple head start funding and early head start funding (preschool program)
Zero-Five Program: A series of proposals such as increasing head start funding, increasing program for nurses visiting new first time low income moms (more details at website)
Summer learning programs for low income students
Increase 21st century after school program
Focus on retention programs for middle school
Small schools grants
Increased funding for educational research
Teaching residency program (a mentoring and recruitment program for teachers like an extended Teach for America, more details at website)
Financial rewards for teachers for taking on additional responsibility or learning new skills
Increase federal pell grant to $6100 to cover 3/4 cost of average public 4 yr tuition, or full cost of community college
Increase college tuition tax credit
Reduce subsidies on private student loan lenders, use $ to increase federal financial aid
This $18 Billion package would be paid for by "delaying NASAs's constellation program (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html) for 5 yrs...auctioning off surplus federal property" closing the "CEO pay deductible loophole" and a bit from the war in Iraq.
Jennie's Analysis:
First of all, neither McCain or Huckabee has what I would call a plan....only policy positions which are easy. Figuring out a starting point for addressing these issues is the hard part. Therefore I won't discuss their plans except to say that I am vehemently opposed to school choice, vouchers, etc. It does appear that Huckabee got some good results in education as governor of Arkansas.
Moving on.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both have extensive (and expensive) plans outlined above. These plans are largely similar, and many more details can be found on their respective websites under the "issues" tab. I'm disappointed that neither of them address federal funding for smaller class size, which is consistently the most important factor in student achievement in study after study over many years (http://www.nea.org/classsize/research-classsize.html). They did hit on the importance of small schools which closely related and has a positive effect (on school safety as well as achievement). However, both plans are well researched in every other way. It is clear that preschool is critical to achievement (as is the first 3 years of life), and it's good to see some new ideas around teacher recruitment, pay, and in general considering treating teachers like the professionals they are. Both address the massive effect of poverty in the education system and bring plans to deal with it. They both acknowledge the high school drop out rate and it's negative effect on society (and the long term cost of not dealing with these problems). I like that they both added how they would pay for their plan. They both addressed that there is highly inadequate (inexcusable) low funding for the mandates of NCLB.
These are very ambitious and others besides the President need to get serious about solving these problems in order for them to work. I hope our country is ready to do some of this! Also, education until NCLB was a largely state level issue, I'm not clear on what is state and federally funded/administered and how that works.
I'd give an edge to Obama on this issue, mainly because he addresses barriers to higher education for low income and middle class families. Also, his plan is much more detailed (it took me much longer to read through it all).
Here's my ranking if you were voting on this issue alone:
1. Obama (add class size subsidies, consider leaving the second generation moon landing on schedule and cutting back the irs instead)
2. Clinton (add class size subsidies, pell grant increases, crack down on student loans; let Cheryl keep her government contracting job at least until Emily and MacKenzie graduate from college...maybe a few other contractors should stick around too)
3. Huckabee (maybe you could explain how you got these results in Arkansas? And hooray for art and music education!)
4. John McCain (please, please tell me you have a plan and you just didn't put it on your website...please?)
Political disclaimer
My dear friend Niki has suggested that I blog about the different candidates and their issues. This gives me an excuse to do a little research so I'm going to attempt to do this! I'm starting with education, because it's the "issue" that I know the most about. I'll move onto other "issues" over time. Here's the criteria (have to limit things for time):
- Using only the info from the candidates (not what OTHERS say about them), for the purposes of this, we'll take their word that this is their position. (For fact checking, you can check yourself at www.politifact.com)
- This is a summary of their (sometimes long, sometimes short) policy statements. Not all the details!
- Obviously all these things won't necessary happen if candidate A is elected! There's more than just a plan that goes inot it (congress, new information, judges, having to prioritize, unpredictable world events). But I still think a plan is important! It gives you a place to start and it shows that the person does or doesn't understand what's going on.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Caucusing
This morning Jay got up early and went shooting with some friends while I filed our taxes. In this way, we warmed up to exercise our democratic rights as citizens for the Washington Caucus!
Neither of us had ever caucused before and despite my being a political science major I have never managed to figure out the caucusing part of it. I wouldn't say that I have it fully figured out now but I'm getting there. It was really cool to sit at a table in an elementary school cafeteria with our neighbors and discuss candidates. Our next door neighbors were there and some others we know in our neighborhood and we met some new people too. I kept thinking that this must be what politics was like 200 years ago...that everyone sat around and discussed and tried to convince each other and voted. It's definitely a way to feel like your vote counts! Our precinct had 26 people to caucus, and one out of 26 feels like a real vote. Our precinct voted 15 for Obama, 9 for Clinton, 1 for Edwards and I undecided. It looks like this closely mirrors the breakdown for all of Washington.
You can probably guess that Obama got my vote!
Neither of us had ever caucused before and despite my being a political science major I have never managed to figure out the caucusing part of it. I wouldn't say that I have it fully figured out now but I'm getting there. It was really cool to sit at a table in an elementary school cafeteria with our neighbors and discuss candidates. Our next door neighbors were there and some others we know in our neighborhood and we met some new people too. I kept thinking that this must be what politics was like 200 years ago...that everyone sat around and discussed and tried to convince each other and voted. It's definitely a way to feel like your vote counts! Our precinct had 26 people to caucus, and one out of 26 feels like a real vote. Our precinct voted 15 for Obama, 9 for Clinton, 1 for Edwards and I undecided. It looks like this closely mirrors the breakdown for all of Washington.
You can probably guess that Obama got my vote!
Barack Obama beats the Sonics: 22,000 to 9900!
Yesterday I was one of the lucky Obama fans who crowded the Key Arena an hour before tip off! My very first thought when I joined the long queue to enter was: "Wow, this is embarassing for the Sonics!".
Being a life long non-lover of the beleaguered Sonics, it gave me great satisfaction to see a candidate cram the house in a way the Key Arena has not seen in a long time!
The event was amazing...we made it inside and even though we were too late to get a seat, we managed to get comfy at the bottom of the stairs while blocking the exit. I'm not into blogging enough yet to detail all my political thoughts, but I will say that you learn a lot more about a candidate when you actually listen to him or her talk for over an hour! It's quite different from a quick sound bite on the news or a debate. I was riveted for the entire hour and ten minutes, but I think this was my favorite part:
(Pessimists, beware!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk73P6ny_Rk
Friday, February 8, 2008
It's time to blog!
For awhile I've been wanting to start a blog (I'd say the last year or two). This is strange because I don't like to write, but I would LIKE to like to write. So, I've decided to put my musings out there for anyone who's interested.
I'll try to write something from time to time, even if nothing really exciting is going on (although it seems like there's always something exciting going on!).
I'll try to write something from time to time, even if nothing really exciting is going on (although it seems like there's always something exciting going on!).
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