Jul 16 2008
Evan Bayh on Education
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?
2 Responses to “Evan Bayh on Education”
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Well, between the additional funding for financial aid and the IDEA plans, I can’t find fault with Bayh. That being said, I’d need to see more details because he’s still a politician
Say what you want about GW and NCLB, but NCLB does provide additional avenues to ensure that schools are accountable to children with disabilities (an NCLB subgroup that often gets poo-pooed, or “our special ed kids are bringing us down!”). When politicians are adamantly opposed to NCLB or desire changes to school accountability, I get nervous, even with the promise of “fully funding IDEA.”
Teacher unions and school board associations have loathed NCLB from the get-go and while not perfect, I worry about politicos that don’t talk about both NCLB and IDEA in the same breath.