Campaign 2008: Early Education Roundup

Nov 2, 2008

Sara Mead

Tomorrow, millions of Americans will go to the polls to vote for the next president, as well as a host of down-ticket races. As the 2008 campaign draws to a close, Early Ed Watch takes a look back at the role of early education issues in the 2008 campaign. The economic situation, Iraq war, and national security issues consumed most of voters’ attention this year, so educational issues in general didn’t get a great deal of attention. But in many ways this was a breakthrough year for early education. For the first time ever, presidential candidates for both major political parties–Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain–put forward early education policy agendas that recognized the importance of high-quality early education, demonstrating that support for quality early education is a bipartisan issue. Early education also got a high-profile shoutout in the presidential debates.

Throughout the 2008 campaign season, Early Ed Watch has been keeping tabs on the candidates’ positions on early education, as well as how early education issues are being covered (or too often ignored) in the media coverage of the campaign. Along the way, we didn’t get very many answers to the questions we posed about the candidates’ early education agendas, but we did learn we’re not very good at predicting vice presidential picks. As you prepare to vote tomorrow, we’re pleased to provide this roundup of our coverage of early education issues in the 2008 campaign:

New America Debate with McCain Education Policy Adviser Lisa Graham Keegan and Obama Education Adviser Jon Schnur

Candidates’ Early Education Positions

John McCain Unveils Education Agenda at NAACP Conference

Barack Obama’s Early Education Agenda

And Then There Were Two

Barack Obama Links Early Ed to America’s Economic Well-Being

An Early Education Agenda John McCain Could Love?

Party Platforms

Early Education in the Republican Party Platform

Early Education in the Democratic Party Platform

Debate Coverage

Is Education Worth Just 11 Minutes?

5 Early Education Questions for Tonight’s Debate (and, no, we never did get answers to them!)