Politics for Moms: Romney Education Plan

Improving our schools is critical to the future of our country and our economy. Governor Romney also believes that closing the achievement gap in our schools is the civil rights issue of our time.

Governor Romney Believes Our Education System Works Best When We Have More Local Control Of Our Schools. While there is a proper role for the federal government to play in education, it is not in telling parents, teachers, kids and local authorities what to teach or how to run their schools.

Governor Romney Will Promote School Choice. He believes that when parents and kids are free to choose their school, everyone benefits. That's because competition and choice in educational opportunities – whether it comes from private schools, charter schools, or home schooling – makes traditional public schools better and improves the quality of education for all of America's kids. Governor Romney believes that it is especially important that students in failing schools be able to exercise school choice so that they can get access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.

Governor Romney Has Proposed A Federal Home Schooling Tax Credit. As of 2003, there were nearly 1.1 million home schooled students in the United States. Governor Romney believes that parents who want to home school their kids should be able to do so. To help them, he will provide a tax credit to help defray the educational expenses of parents who home school their kids.

Governor Romney Will Improve Upon And Enhance No Child Left Behind (NCLB). He believes that No Child Left Behind has played an important role in stressing the role of accountability and high standards in improving our schools. Governor Romney will improve NCLB by giving states that meet or exceed testing requirements additional flexibility in measuring student performance. He will also improve the law by focusing more attention on individual student progress, rather than the overall progress of schools.

Governor Romney Will Honor Teaching As The Profession. It Truly Is. He believes that good teachers should be rewarded for their hard work and dedication to the important cause of educating our children. He will support performance-based pay and other initiatives that encourage our best teachers to teach in our highest-need schools.

Governor Romney Will Ensure Our Kids Get The Education They Need To Excel In The Jobs Of The New Economy. He will focus our efforts in fields like math and science, while promoting innovative approaches such as charter schools and public-private partnerships. Governor Romney will ensure that the workers of the future have the intellectual capital and skills they need to compete in the new global marketplace.

THE ROMNEY RECORD: Improving Education In Massachusetts:

Governor Romney Promoted School Choice And Charter Schools. He wanted school choice to be available to all parents, particularly those with children in low-performing districts. Governor Romney fought for charter schools and resisted attempts to derail their expansion. Despite a Legislature that was largely hostile to charter schools and school choice, Governor Romney increased the number of charter schools and the number of students attending them.

Governor Romney Expanded Access To Higher Education. In 2004, Governor Romney established the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program to reward the highest performing Massachusetts high school graduates with a four-year, tuition-free scholarship to state universities or colleges. More than 14,000 Adams Scholarships were offered to members of the Class of 2006, and more than 16,000 students earned them in the Class of 2007.

Governor Romney Improved Educational Outcomes. Under his leadership, Massachusetts was the first state to ever have the highest scaled scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading and Math exams in Grades 4 and 8 in the same year.

Governor Romney Kept Massachusetts Students Globally Competitive. He supported legislation that would bolster the amount of attention paid to math and science in Massachusetts high schools by adding 1,000 new math and science teachers, requiring math and science Advanced Placement classes, and providing laptop computers to all middle and high school students.

Governor Romney Promoted Parental Involvement In Education. Because parents are crucial to a child's success in school, Governor Romney supported measures to empower parents to play a more active role in their kids' educations.