Blog - Obama <s>and McCain</s> on Education

(This is part of a series on legislation being sponsored in the Senate by presidential candidates Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ). Subscribe to our rss feed to get the rest.)

On a day when the two presidential candidates went back and forth over education policy, I figured I would take a look at some of the education-related legislation they are sponsoring in Congress.

As I began looking through the bills each candidate has sponsored this session (Obama’s, McCain’s), it was instantly that education policy marks a stark contrast in the candidates legislative records this session – while Barack Obama has proposed 11 bills directly related to education, John McCain has introduced zero.

As is typical of senators from the minority party in Congress, McCain has introduced far fewer bills than Obama in general. Less than one-third, in fact. Still – and this isn’t scientific – I would say that 11 education bills is exceptionally high and zero is exceptionally low. Even looking at the Library of Congress’s Thomas.gov website for information on bills in the previous, 109th Congress, it doesn’t look like any of McCain’s bills last session were related to education policy.

I planned on doing a general comparison of the candidate’s education bills, but, instead, here’s a quick and dirty overview of Barack Obama’s education legislation – click on the bill numbers for way more information:

>S.3047 – Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Act of 2008
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>A bill to provide for the coordination of the Nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives.
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>S.2428 – National STEM Scholarship Database Act
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>A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to establish and maintain a public website through which individuals may find a complete database of available scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of financial assistance in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
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>S.2227 – Success in the Middle Act of 2007
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>A bill to provide grants to States to ensure that all students in the middle grades are taught an academically rigorous curriculum with effective supports so that students complete the middle grades prepared for success in high school and postsecondary endeavors, to improve State and district policies and programs relating to the academic achievement of students in the middle grades, to develop and implement effective middle school models for struggling students, and for other purposes.
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>S.2111 – Positive Behavior for Effective Schools Act
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>A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools to increase implementation of early intervention services, particularly school-wide positive behavior supports.
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>S.2066 – Back to School: Improving Standards for Nutrition and Physical Education in Schools Act of 2007
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>A bill to establish nutrition and physical education standards for schools.
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>S.Res.268 – A resolution designating July 12, 2007, as “National Summer Learning Day”
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>Designates July 12, 2007, as National Summer Learning Day. Urges people to promote summer learning activities to send youth back to school ready to learn, support working parents and their children, and keep children safe and healthy during the summer months.
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>S.1574 – Teaching Residency Act
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>A bill to establish Teaching Residency Programs for preparation and induction of teachers.
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>S.1513 – Predominantly Black Institution Act of 2007
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>A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize grant programs to enhance the access of low-income African-American students to higher education.
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>S.1389 – Climate Change Education Act
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>A bill to authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program.
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>S.116 – Summer Term Education Programs for Upward Performance Act of 2007
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>A bill to authorize resources to provide students with opportunities for summer learning through summer learning grants.
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>S.114 – Innovation Districts for School Improvement Act
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>A bill to authorize resources for a grant program for local educational agencies to create innovation districts.

On education, at least, it does appear that Barack Obama is the “change” candidate. For information on McCain’s legislative record, see his “”http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=eb39163a-67bf-481f-9adf-9187d55fd3af">education" issue portal on his senatorial website. And for good measure, here’s Obama’a education portal.