Early Education in the Final Presidential Debate

We sure had to wait for it, but a question about education finally made it into last night’s third and final presidential debate. Here is what the candidates had to say on early education:

BOB SCHIEFFER: The U.S. spends more per capita than any other country on education. Yet, by every international measurement, in math and science competence, from kindergarten through the 12th grade, we trail most of the countries of the world. The implications of this are clearly obvious. Some even say it poses a threat to our national security. Do you feel that way and what do you intend to do about it?

SEN. OBAMA: … In some cases, we are going to have to invest. Early childhood education, which closes the achievement gap, so that every child is prepared for school, every dollar we invest in that, we end up getting huge benefits with improved reading scores, reduced dropout rates, reduced delinquency rates. …

SCHIEFFER: Do you think the federal government should play a larger role in the schools? And I mean, more federal money?

SEN. MCCAIN: …spending more money isn’t always the answer. I think the Head Start program is a great program. A lot of people, including me, said, look, it’s not doing what it should do. By the third grade many times children who were in the Head Start program aren’t any better off than the others.

Let’s reform it. Let’s reform it and fund it. That was, of course, out-of-bounds by the Democrats. We need to reform these programs. We need to have transparency. We need to have rewards. It’s a system that cries out for accountability and transparency and the adequate funding.

 

 

These replies left us scratching our heads. Granted, the candidates weren’t given much time to elaborate on their proposals for early ed, but we would like to hear more details. Specifically:

What does Sen. McCain believe is an adequate funding level for Head Start? How does his comment “Let’s reform it and fund it,” square with his pledge to freeze spending on domestic discretionary programs? Is Head Start the only early education program that McCain believe the federal government should fund? What exactly would Sen. McCain do to reform Head Start?

In contrast to Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama has made clear that he wants to dramatically expand federal investments in early education, including both new Early Learning Challenge Grants that could be used to fund pre-k and other services, and an increase in funding for Head Start. He’s said far less, though, about how he would ensure the quality of early education programs he invests in. How would Sen. Obama ensure that states use Early Learning Challenge Grants to fund quality, effective early education programs? How would Sen. Obama integrate his proposals for new early education programs with reforms for Head Start? Does he perceive a need, as Sen. McCain does, for reforms to improve the quality and outcomes of Head Start?

When Sen. McCain spoke of Democrats being resistant to Head Start reform, we assume he is referring to the Head Start reauthorization in fall 2007. At the time, many Democratic–and Republican–lawmakers rejected use of the National Reporting System (NRS), a program introduced by the Bush Administration in 2003 to assess the achievement of Head Start students. Early education experts were concerned that the NRS was too narrow, might undermine the comprehensive nature of the Head Start program, and that it was implemented too hastily. We don’t know too much of what McCain thought of this debate, though, since he missed the vote (it passed anyway, 95-0). His early education plan, however, calls for measurable standards and assessments in Head Start.

UPDATE: For further analysis of the education portion of last night’s debate, check out this post by Charlie Barone.