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March 2008 > Events
Panel Examines Views of Presidential Candidates
Russlynn Ali Linda Darling-Hammond Bruce Fuller The next U.S. president is unlikely to come into office with a clear vision of what to do about education according to three leading education panelists at “Educating America: Challenges for the Next President,” a March forum co-sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education and the Institute of Governmental Studies, which is holding a year-long series of events examining issues in the upcoming election.
One policy that the three panelists — Russlynn Ali, executive director, Education Trust-West; Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford; and Bruce Fuller, professor of education at UC Berkeley — agreed would change under the next administration is No Child Left Behind, the signature education legislation of the current Bush administration.
Ali, a passionate advocate of the historic law, both before and after it passed in 2001, admitted that NCLB was not working, and said that she was saddened that a defining moment had passed to close the achievement gap.
“Let’s not throw away the thermometer for better accountability and good data to close the achievement gap,” she exclaimed.
The panelists also agreed that the two Democratic candidates would and should instead focus on the “opportunity gaps,” whereby students and teachers in poorer schools and districts are chronically shortchanged.
“We don’t have a shortage of qualified teachers as much as we have a shortage of teachers who are working in lousy schools in poor districts for less pay,” said Darling-Hammond, an advisor to Barack Obama. The acclaimed researcher said that the Illinois senator supported closing those gaps in part by attracting more-qualified, better-paid teachers to low-performing schools, and through less micromanagement on the federal level. She also implied that Obama would offer greater support for more innovation in education.
Fuller gave the most thorough assessment of each candidates’ positions, noting that Obama and Clinton were firmly on the equity side of the spectrum, while McCain’s education policies were all over the map. He compared the Arizona senator’s stances on education with his recent vote to uphold the controversial use of waterboarding, while at the same time being a steadfast voice against the use of torture.
The GSE educational policy expert also discussed preschool, an area that he has researched and written about extensively, including in his recently published book, Standardized Childhood.
Fuller said in closing that there were three areas to consider in assessing the candidates’ direction on education policies: the impact of the national debt, charter schools, and the achievement gap and teaching in lower-performing schools.
GSE Dean David Pearson, who moderated the session, noted that ANY talk about education would be welcome during the presidential race, and it underscored the value of cross-campus events such as “Educating America,” following the candidates on the campaign trail or on their respective websites.
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