Education Law

I apologize for the lack of posts this week.  I have quite a few deadlines coming up and quite a few (ok, two) kids home with me this week.  Yet, I did not want Wednesday to go by without our popular weekly spotlight on a politician.

This week let’s take a look at Senator Evan Bayh, a democrat from Indiana whose name is being thrown around as a possible running mate for Barack Obama.

Senator Bayh supports a large increase in financial aid for college - to the tune of about $20 billion dollars.  This is part of a comprehensive plan to increase affordable financial aid options and to decrease middle class taxes in order for students and their families to be able to afford college.

A critical part of Senator Bayh’s education plan is his commitment to fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to ending unfunded mandates.

Senator Bayh has a very high approval rating with both the American Federation of Teacher and the National Education Association.

You can read more about his education views here.

So, what do you think?  Do you like his views? Would his education platform be a good addition to the Obama ticket? 

This week’s politician in the spotlight will be Florida Governor Charlie Crist.  Governor Crist is a Republican and rumored to be on John McCain’s list of vice presidential candidates. 

Governor Crist served as Florida’s Education Commissioner from 2000 - 2003.

In Governor Crist’s 2007 State of the State speech, he pledged 3.8 billion dollars to reduce class sizes.  That was a 19% increase in funding.

In addition to smaller classes, Governor Crist supports parental choice in education.  He supports charter schools and school vouchers.  He thinks that parents know which school will best meet the needs of their child.

He also believes in compensating excellent teachers.  He believes that teachers who perform well should earn more money.

On a side note - Governor Crist became engaged to be married this week - so congratulations to Governor Crist and his fiancee.

Last month, a California appeals court agreed to reconsider its previous ruling that required home school instructors to have teaching credentials.  Parents, religious groups, home schooling organizations and Governor Schwarzenegger support the court’s decision to reconsider the ruling.  The state’s largest public school teacher’s union does not.

There are over 160,000 children in California who are homeschooled.  The ruling is expected from the court by the end of September.

Private schools in California are not required to have their teachers credentialed.  Should parents who chose to homeschool their children be held to a different standard?  Are there sufficient ways to make sure that kids who are homeschooled in California get a good quality education without making their parents (or other instructors) become licensed teachers? 

I would argue that if private schools can do it, so can home schools.  Parents who, for whatever reason, decide to home school their children should be required to provide them with an appropriate education.  The state should be responsible for monitoring the progress of homeschool students and for making sure that there is not educational neglect - just as it should for all students, no matter where they attend school.  However, it does not seem fair to require parents to have formal teaching credentials in order to home school.  What do you think?

In the past few weeks, we’ve looked at Democrats and Republicans.  This week we’ll look at Joe Lieberman from Connecticut.  Once a Democrat and now an Independent, Senator Lieberman is a talked about choice for a Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

In 2007, Senator Lieberman introduced a bipartisan education bill with Senators Reid and McConnell that was designed to keep America competitive in the global marketplace.  It passed by a large majority and was signed into law by President Bush.  It was part of Senator Lieberman’s longstanding commitment to science and technology education.

Senator Lieberman was a strong supporter of No Child Left Behind in 2001.  Last year, he introduced the All Students Can Achieve Act of 2007 along with Senators Landrieu and Coleman.

He is a strong supporter of instructional technology, higher education and, charter schools.

For more information about Senator Lieberman’s education please visit his website.