Comments on: The 2008 Presidential Candidates: Where Do They Stand?

By: Brenda

Brenda — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:46:05 +0000

Early education is very important! It is the foundation of our life. In the ideal world every parent should educate their children well, but in this world we sometimes need good early childhood programs to help children gain love for learning.

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:48:29 +0000

Karla, I think if you read his plan the zero to five plan is VOLUNTARY. Some people from wealthier backgrounds do not have the experiance to understand that many working class people in this nation do not have access to QUALITY childcare and early education for their children. The wealthy in this country do not understand how difficult it can be for working parents with little opportunities to be a larger part of their children’s education. Many employers do not allow their employees to take much time off so many working class parents are under tremendous pressure. It is nice that you have the freedom and educational background to homeschool your children but it wouldbe helpful to understand that not everyone has that, and their children, too are deserving of an effective education.

By: Karla Rainville

Karla Rainville — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:53:21 +0000

Why does Obama want to focus on educating infants???? He wants to much control in how we raise our children, that is if they’re not terminated before(or even after) birth.
As a homeschooling mom of 4 children, I believe we should have total say of how and when our chidren our educated.
Change in this country will be determined by the condition of our hearts. Its time we take responsiblity for ourselves and our families and quit putting everything in the governments hands.

By: Roberta

Roberta — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:34:17 +0000

I think that senater McCain is right on this issue alonng with most others miss michelle i think your comment is bogus because i think that everyone including the young need to know what is happening and i can assure you that my children certanly will and i think this is a great link that does not deserve to be shut down

By: Michelle Ervin

Michelle Ervin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:10:58 +0000

Shame on all of you and PBS KIDS. Why do Big Bird and Caillou need to become political pawns in the adult battle? Can’t children live as innocent children? The big people networks & programs are not enough to satisfy the gluttons for political sparring? This is MY tax dollars at “work”!? NOT BY MY CHOICE! SHUT THIS LINK DOWN!

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:07:47 +0000

Both candidates have their points, but they are both off the mark. We must reform education and we should seriously consider a modified version of the school voucher system.

I’m sorry but the facts are that the US spends more money on education as a fraction of GDP than the UK,France,Italy, Australia and many others. Cuba spends the most money per GDP than any other country, but I don’t see strides there. The fact is, we are inefficient with the dollars we spend on education. McCain has quality issues that can’t get it done and Obama has good intentions, but you can not put all the control in the hands of the government like he wants to do. Obama’s costs are astounding and unrealistic and it’s bad change!

The real issue is that we subsidize the producer and not the consumer and no one knows how to spend their own dollars better than you do. Write your congressman and let’s get movin’.

By: Alexandra Pape

Alexandra Pape — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:59:47 +0000

I agree with both Molly and Bryan’s comments. I am a 22 year old college student, I work 2 jobs, and I have firsthand experience of poverty’s effect on not only the preparation process of education but also the difficulty of entering higher education. I prepared my butt off when I was a teenager- I participated in at least 10 clubs, competitions, and advocacy student groups, I maintained a high GPA and enrolled in college courses while in highschool, all so I could have a better chance of getting into college after graduation. This preparation was necessary coming from a family who’s yearly income rivaled most families’ expenditure on a moderately priced used vehicle. Food stamps, WIC help, TANF, Deseret Industries for clothes, the charity from local churches and what not was a signature for my childhood. No person was going to fund my college education. No parent was going to send money if my car broke down, I couldn’t afford groceries or food, or classes simply became too expensive. John McCain has clearly failed, from a student’s perspective, to understand the amazing struggle college can really be and the help we need to do it. In my opinion, when it comes to understanding what $5 is really worth to some in this country, McCain would be the last person to know what he is talking about. Walk in someone else’s shoes and don’t talk the talk until you’ve gained experience in the area you’re talking about. Only then would he have the understanding required to make rational decisions for funding in colleges in this country.

By: Robin Bennett

Robin Bennett — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:33:37 +0000

Can anyone seriously read these comparisons and not conclude that one candidate has a deep understanding of the issues, and the other, an ideological one? Since Ronald Reagan, discussions of school reform has dumped on teacher inadequacy, without the “capitalistic” notion that you get what you pay for. According to this PBS program, the US is DEAD LAST in federal spending on schools! Why the resistance to change? How would the elite in America maintain superiority if their local money couldn’t BUY better schools? If the lower-class riff-raff could get the same education as the rich suburbanite, what would that mean for our society? Democracy? Equal opportunity?

I teach in an urban school–although selective enrollment. This means that students travel from all over the city, many for over 90 minutes, to work extremely hard. THey are lucky and they know it, because they have friends, as smart as they are and who did comparably well in elementary school, but who had a complete turn around at their neighborhood school, mired in poverty, gangs, and hopelessness. I recommend a book called “So Much Reform, So Little Change” for a complex picture of the challenge. Obama has seen this close up–as a community organizer in Chicago. McCain understands education from the point of view of a parent who paid for parchocial (aka religion-based) education, and seems to understand little else. McSame, as one commentor mentioned. But he appeals to emotional responses that allow the listener to avoid thinking about the complexity of the issues.

The greatest failures of our public schools is that we have not taught students to think critically about complex issues–which allows them to be swayed by tried and tested marketing appeals, personalities and their own feelings of inadequacy.

VOTE for CHANGE!

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:54:58 +0000

“John McCain believes that this extremely successful program should expand to at least $20 million benefiting nearly a thousand more families.”
What about the millions of other families who struggle to pay for college?

By: Molly

Molly — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:30:24 +0000

I work in a struggling school with children living in poverty. When politicians suggest the best idea for these children is for their parents to “pick their own school” it is obvious they have no clue about what is happening in these childrens’ lives. The learning problems and other difficulties these children face who live in poverty run much deeper than this simple and ignorant solution. By McCain saying that “he and his wife decided to send their children to parochial school, and now he wants to ensure that all parents can have the same freedom” just proves that he has no idea what is actually going on in the public schools today.

Obama’s plan is more comprehensive and gives straight forward solutions that could actually make a difference in these childrens’ lives. His ideas are based in research and practice that have proven to be successful. McCain’s plan seems like it was cut and pasted from Bush’s failed education plans.

I’m seriously worried about the future of children living in poverty. And here is what I don’t understand … if you invest in these children and their parents early, we don’t have to pay MORE later when these children end up in jail, in mental health facilties or on welfare.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:20:09 +0000

Though I am no Obama fan, I agree that NCLB needs to focus more on supporting schools that are struggling rather than punishing them. Nonetheless, if schools are going to be accountable they must answer for their results.

By: Justine

Justine — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:10:54 +0000

take the first part of McCain’s plan to be able to choose a school and then the rest of Obama’s plan to fund the schools, reward good teachers, and make college affordble and free and we got a plan!