The Education of John McCain
Petrilli, Chester E. Finn Jr., Michael J.
The Education of John McCain What he can—and can’t—do for the public schools. BY CHESTER E. FINN JR. & MICHAEL J. PETRILLI As the GOP debates whether John McCain is sufficiently Reaganesque,...
...Those are the girders under a strong education platform for the presumptive Republican nominee: a U.S...
...It’s a myth that most citizens seem to believe...
...And the incumbent Bush staked his claim to compassionate conservatism partly on his beloved No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) and its dramatic expansion of the federal role in education...
...When it comes to global competition, President McCain would rally U.S...
...He could give states and communities the authority to merge all their federal funds into one fl exible stream (while being held to tougher, more consistent standards for student learning...
...As for wasteful spending, President McCain could have a fi eld day with a K-12 education budget that’s ballooned by more than 40 percent since Bush 43 took offi ce...
...So do some candidates...
...Chester E. Finn Jr...
...Indeed, McCain has said very little about the subject on the campaign trail, and his website barely touches it...
...At the recent CPAC convention, McCain said he would defeat radical Islamists “by defending the values, virtues, and security of free people against those who despise all that is good about us...
...But here, too, NCLB is weakening our human-capital development with its low (and uneven) standards and neglect of high-achieving students...
...There are plenty of other ideas worth supporting—targeted vouchers, aid for charter schools, incentives for districts to rid themselves of restrictive union contracts, and more...
...MICHAEL J. PETRILLI As the GOP debates whether John McCain is sufficiently Reaganesque, here’s a point in the senator’s favor: Like the Gipper, he doesn’t consider education a top presidential priority...
...Other than indicating vague support for that law, for school choice, and for rewarding excellent teachers, it appears the Arizonan hasn’t thought much about this (though he has a couple of astute advisers...
...That means not letting history and civics get squeezed out of the curriculum by NCLB’s obsession with reading and math scores...
...It’s hard to picture him spending much time visiting schools and reading to children...
...and charge him/her with making some waves...
...His administration pushed for higher expectations, tougher standards, more parental choice, and a focus on character as well as sound curriculum...
...Yet how many young Americans truly understand and appreciate their country’s “values” and “virtues...
...Bush p?re campaigned to be the “education president” and swiftly convened the nation’s fi rst education summit...
...And he could push Congress to rewrite NCLB so it focuses not just on academic stragglers but also on our savviest youngsters, too...
...Department of Education in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations respectively...
...Clinton demonstrated his “third way” bona fi des by pushing charter schools and school uniforms...
...rigorous common expectations for all students...
...Yet this was mostly bully pulpit stuff...
...Even better, he might pick a fi ght over the scores of Education Department programs that don’t qualify as “effective” on the Offi ce of Management and Budget tally...
...Washington bureaucrats don’t improve them but do monitor everything from teacher qualifi cations to reading curricula to discipline...
...a renewed focus on helping able kids fulfi ll their potential...
...Start by playing to your strengths, Senator, fitting education policy within three broad themes of your candidacy and worldview: keeping America confi dent in the face of Islamic terrorism, strengthening our ability to compete in a globalizing world economy, and fi ghting wasteful spending...
...McCain should argue that to fi ght and win a longterm war against extremism we must ensure that our children possess deep knowledge of U.S...
...He is a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, where Michael J. Petrilli is a research fellow...
...Yet when it comes to what matters most—expectations for student learning—NCLB allows every state to grade itself, enabling most to set low standards and play games with test results...
...The myth: The president can make our schools better...
...McCain’s instincts appear similar...
...The monster: We now have a federal Department of Education meddling in schools across the land...
...history and America’s role as freedom’s champion...
...Happily for him, Obama’s mushy education plan and fl ip-fl opping on merit pay and vouchers give the Arizonan plenty of room to maneuver...
...Students should be tested in history and civics, too, and schools with strong track records in these subjects should be cited as models...
...Observe Senator Barack Obama stating, during a recent debate, with a straight face and sincere look, that “we should not accept a school in South Carolina that was built in the 1800s, where kids are having to learn in trailers, and every time the railroad goes by the tracks, the building shakes and the teacher has to stop teaching...
...McCain is wading into a new issue area, however, and he needs to wet his feet before plunging all the way in...
...So here’s a suggestion...
...workers to compete worldwide without yielding to the siren song of protectionism...
...But he, too, could appoint an energetic education secretary (Mike Huckabee, perhaps...
...McCain could change this by calling on governors to develop a set of common, rigorous expectations and assessments for all young Americans from Okeechobee to Walla Walla...
...That’s in vivid contrast to our last three presidents...
...But by picking a few key issues and using his power effectively, he just might be an education president anyhow...
...history “surge...
...Yes, Reagan also called for bold changes in K-12 schooling—and empowered his able education secretary, Bill Bennett, to do the same...
...Like Reagan, McCain may never make education his top priority...
...Meanwhile, the media will begin to press McCain to state specifi c positions on education, particularly on NCLB, whose reauthorization will be overdue by Inauguration Day...
...is the author of Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik (Princeton, 2008...
...Such Oval Office advocacy and activism helped give life to some promising ideas—school choice and standards-testing-accountability in particular—but also created a myth and a monster...
...They served at the U.S...
...Excuse us, Senator, but what exactly can you do for this school from the White House...
...and the unmasking of wasteful, Washingtonknowsbest programs...
...Reagan and Bennett knew that the real work of reform had to happen in states and communities, not in Washington...
Vol. 13 • March 2008 • No. 25
