Clinton Health Care Plan

A foundational issue for Hillary Clinton's campaign is to ensure that all Americans have affordable, quality health insurance. Her focus on lowering costs while still providing value and quality is the cornerstone of her American Health Choices Plan.

Clinton's plan covers every American, including the estimated 47 million uninsured and the tens of millions of workers with coverage. Employees who lose or change jobs still would keep their health insurance. She promises this with no increase in health spending or taxes.

For those with health insurance, her plan builds on the current system to give businesses and their employees greater choice of health plans - including keeping the one they have - while lowering cost and improving quality. The new array of choices offered in the Menu would provide benefits at least as good as the typical plan offered to Members of Congress, which includes mental health and dental coverage.

She believes the plan will improve quality and lower costs by removing hidden taxes, stressing prevention and focusing on efficiency and modernization. The plan also ensures that no American is denied coverage, refused renewal, unfairly priced out of the market, or forced to pay excessive insurance company premiums by creating insurance rules that transfer across states and markets.

Of course, Clinton's plan is only as good as the players, so she will work with insurance and drug companies so they can't deny you coverage based on pre-existing conditions or expectations of illness, and drug companies will offer fair prices and accurate information.

Insurance companies will also have to offer and renew coverage to anyone who applies and pays their premium. And like other things that you buy, they will have to compete for your business based on quality and price.

Affordable Coverage
Clinton's plan provides tax credits for working families to help them cover their costs. The tax credits will ensure that working families never have to pay more than a limited percentage of their income for health care.

Clinton would give tax credits to small businesses that provide health care to their workers to help defray their coverage costs. This will make small businesses more competitive and help create good jobs with health benefits that will stay here in the U.S. The Plan will also fix the holes in the safety net to ensure that Medicare and CHIP receive affordable, quality care.

To read Senator Clinton's complete health care plan, you can visit her campaign site.

Clinton Health Care Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/03/clinton-health-care-plan.html

Ron Paul on Health Care, On the Issues

Ron Paul's Health Care Bill, DownsizeDC

Ron Paul, M.D. Speaks on Healthcare, The Dartmouth Review

Ron Paul Unplugged: Get Government Out of Health Care, ABC News

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/02/ron-paul-on-health-care-on-issues-ron.html

Ron Paul's Health Care Plan

via Ron Paul 2008

The federal government decided long ago that it knew how to manage your health care better than you and replaced personal responsibility and accountability with a system that puts corporate interests first. Our free market health care system that was once the envy of the world became a federally-managed disaster.

Few people realize that Congress forced Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) on us. HMOs rose to prominence through federal legislation, incentives, and coercion.

Now, the Food and Drug Administration's bias toward large pharmaceutical companies enlarges their power, limits treatment options, and drives consumers to seek Canadian medicines. Regulations from D.C. make it virtually impossible for small business owners to cover their employees. Thanks to government interference in the health care market, many Americans, including the unemployed and those who work for small businesses, cannot afford health insurance. This causes the uninsured to seek basic medical care at already overcrowded emergency rooms, further driving up health care costs and causing premiums to rise for those with insurance.

The federal government will not suddenly become efficient managers if universal health care is instituted. Government health care only means long waiting periods, lack of choice, poor quality, and frustration. Many Canadians, fed up with socialized medicine, come to the U.S. in order to obtain care. Socialized medicine will not magically work here.

Health care should not be left up to HMOs, big drug companies, and government bureaucrats.

It is time to take back our health care. This is why I support:

• Making all medical expenses tax deductible.
• Eliminating federal regulations that discourage small businesses from providing coverage.
• Gving doctors the freedom to collectively negotiate with insurance companies and drive down the cost of medical care.
• Making every American eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA), and removing the requirement that individuals must obtain a high-deductible insurance policy before opening an HSA.
• Reform licensure requirements so that pharmacists and nurses can perform some basic functions to increase access to care and lower costs.

By removing federal regulations, encouraging competition, and presenting real choices, we can make our health care system the envy of the world once again.

Ron Paul's Health Care Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/02/ron-pauls-health-care-plan.html

Mike Huckabee Health Care Plan

Huckabee approaches health care in a similar fashion to McCain. He believes that universal health care is not the answer but rather a system that is focused on containing costs and putting a priority on preventative care. This will give Americans more control of their health care options and make health care competitive in a global economy.

"It is time to recognize that jobs don't need health care, people do, and move from employer-based to consumer-based health care."

Huckabee is passionate that the health care system in this country is irrevocably broken, in part because it is only a "health care" system, not a "health" system. He asserts that is we need to get serious about preventive health care, instead of chasing more and more dollars to treat chronic disease, which currently gobbles up 80% of our health care costs, and yet is often avoidable.

Huckabee also advocates policies that will encourage the private sector to seek innovative ways to bring down costs and improve the free market for health care services. He wants to change a system that happily pays $30,000 for a diabetic to have his foot amputated, but won't pay for the shoes that would save his foot.

Huckabee's strategies to make health care more affordable include:

• reforming medical liability
• adopting electronic record keeping
• making health insurance more portable from one job to another
• expanding health savings accounts to everyone, not just those with high deductibles
• making health insurance tax deductible for individuals and families as it now is for businesses. Low income families would get tax credits instead of deductions.

Health care spending is now about $2 trillion a year, which is close to $7,000 for each American. It consumes about 17% of our gross domestic product, easily surpassing the few European nations where spending is close to 10% and far higher than any other country in the world. According to Huckabee, if we reduced our out-of-control health care costs from 17% to 11%, we'd save $700 billion a year, which is about twice our annual national deficit.

Huckabee also points out that our health care system is making our businesses non-competitive in the global economy. How?

• General Motors spends more on health care than it does on steel, $1,500 per car.
• Starbucks spends more on health care than it does on coffee beans.

We have an employer-based system from the 1940's, a system devised not because it was the best way to provide health care, but as a way around World War II wage-and-price controls. Costs have skyrocketed because the party paying for the health care---the employer---and the party using the health care---the employee---are not the same. It is human nature to consume more of something that is essentially free.

Workers complain that their wages are stagnant, but businesses reply that their total compensation costs are rising significantly because they are paying so much more for health care. Huckabee sees that health care costs are adversely affecting your paycheck, even if you're healthy. Some Americans are afraid to change jobs or start their own businesses because they're afraid of losing their health insurance.

Huckabee says it is time to recognize that jobs don't need health insurance, people do, and to ease the burden on businesses. The employer-based system has outlived its usefulness, but Huckabee's answer is a true consumer-based system, not socialized medicine.

via Mike Huckabee for President

Mike Huckabee Health Care Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/02/mike-huckabee-health-care-plan.html

John McCain's Healthcare Policy

As the Democrats focus on covering the uninsured with their health care plans, McCain is taking a different approach to the health care crisis. He is focused on cost. More specifically, the cost of chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and CAD which account for 75% of the US' entire $2 trillion health care bill.

McCain believes that bringing costs under control is the only way to provide affordable health insurance, save Medicare and Medicaid, protect private health benefits for retirees, and allow our companies to effectively compete around the world. Here are the three main elements of his plan:

Put families in charge of their health care dollars and give them more control over their care while improving the quality of care and lowering costs by promoting competition

• Take better care of our citizens with chronic illness and promote prevention that will keep millions of others from ever developing deadly and debilitating disease.


• Provide access to health care for all our citizens---whether temporarily or chronically uninsured, whether living in rural areas with limited services, or whether residing in inner cities where access to physicians is often limited.


• Give Veterans the freedom to choose to carry their VA dollars to a provider that gives them the timely care at high quality and in the best location.


• Reform federal policy and programs to focus on quality while controlling costs


• Promote competition throughout the health care system between providers and among alternative treatments.


• Give patients a larger role in both prevention and care, putting more decisions and responsibility in their hands.


• Give public more information on treatment options and require transparency by providers regarding medical outcomes, quality of care, costs, and prices.


• Facilitate the development of national standards for measuring and recording treatments and outcomes.


• Reform the payment systems in Medicare to compensate providers for diagnosis, prevention, and care coordination. Medicare should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement.


• Dedicate federal research on the basis of sound science resulting in greater focus on care and cure of chronic disease


• Give states the flexibility to experiment with: alternative forms of access; risk-adjusted payments per episode covered under Medicaid; use of private insurance in Medicaid; alternative insurance policies and insurance providers; and, different licensing schemes for medical providers.


• Build genuine national markets by permitting providers to practice nationwide.


• Support innovative delivery systems, such as clinics in retail outlets and other ways that provide greater market flexibility in permitting appropriate roles for nurse practitioners, nurses, and doctors.


• Where cost-effective, employ telemedicine, and community and mental health clinics in areas where services and providers are limited.


• Foster the development of routes for safe, cheaper generic versions of drugs and biologic pharmaceuticals. Develop safety protocols that permit re-importation to keep competition vigorous.


• Pass tort reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits and excessive damage awards.
  Protect the health care consumer through vigorous enforcement of federal protections against collusion, unfair business actions, and deceptive consumer practices.

John McCain believes that insurance reforms should increase the variety and affordability of insurance coverage available to American families by fostering competition and innovation.

• Reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance, and provide all individuals with a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to increase incentives for insurance coverage. Individuals owning innovative multi-year policies that cost less than the full credit can deposit remainder in expanded health savings accounts.


• Families can purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines, to maximize their choices, and heighten competition for their business that will eliminate excess overhead, administrative, and excessive compensation costs from the system.


• Insurance should be innovative, moving from job to home, job to job, and providing multi-year coverage.


• Require any state receiving Medicaid to develop a financial "risk adjustment" bonus to high-cost and low-income families to supplement tax credits and Medicaid funds.


• Allow individuals to get insurance through any organization or association that they choose: employers, individual purchases, churches, professional association, and so forth. These policies will be available to small businesses and the self-employed, will be portable across all jobs, and will automatically bridge the time between retirement and Medicare eligibility.

John McCain Believes in Personal Responsibility

• We must do more to take care of ourselves to prevent chronic diseases when possible, and do more to adhere to treatment after we are diagnosed with an illness.


• Childhood obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are all on the rise. We must again teach our children about health, nutrition and exercise.


• Public health initiatives must be undertaken with all our citizens to stem the growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes, and to deter smoking.

via John McCain 2008

John McCain's Healthcare Policy

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/02/john-mccain-healthcares-policy.html

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.

Romney Education Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/01/just-facts-romney-education-plan.html

Just the Facts: Obama Education Plan

Today, we'll look at Senator Obama's plan as outlined on his campaign site. Senator Obama's plan is broken down into three sections: Early Childhood Education, K-12 and Higher Education.

Early Childhood Education
Zero to Five Plan: Obama's comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. Obama will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.

Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for both.

Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Obama will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working families.


K-12
Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama will reform NCLB, which starts by funding the law. Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. Obama will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.

Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. He will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.

Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama will address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.

Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children.

Expand Summer Learning Opportunities: Obama's "STEP UP" plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community organizations.

Support College Outreach Programs: Obama supports outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.

Support English Language Learners: Obama supports transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.


Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's Teachers
Recruit Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.

Prepare Teachers: Obama will require all schools of education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively.

Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, Obama's plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. He will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.

Reward Teachers: Obama will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

Higher Education
Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students.

Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.

Just the Facts: Obama Education Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/01/just-facts-obama-education-plan.html

Just the Facts: Clinton Education Plan

As First Lady, Senator Clinton promoted the Prescription for Reading program, encouraging pediatricians to "prescribe" that new parents read to their children. She helped create Early Head Start in order to prepare students from low income backgrounds for school. She also spearheaded the administration's efforts to grow an after-school program from a pilot program of $1 million to a $1 billion program, serving children in all 50 states. As a senator, Hillary worked to reform and fully fund No Child Left Behind. She helped enact legislation to recruit and retain teachers and principals to high-need areas.


Now as she looks toward the White House, Senator Clinton's education plan reflects her commitment to quality education for all children. For the complete education plan, please visit her campaign web site.


Early Childhood Education
Hillary knows that parents are our children's first teachers, and the early years have a tremendous impact on their lives. That is why she will invest heavily in proven strategies to get all children ready for school, including:

• Nurse home visitation programs to help new parents develop parenting skills.


• Quality child care and Head Start.


• Pre-kindergarten for all four-year olds.

K-12
Hillary also knows that we have to improve our K-12 system in order to ensure that every child is prepared to compete in an increasingly global economy. As president, she will:

• End the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind.


• Meet the funding promises of IDEA to ensure that children with special needs get the attention and support they deserve.


• Recruit and retain thousands more outstanding teachers and principals, especially in urban and rural areas.


• Cut the minority dropout rate in half.


• Create "Green Schools" in order to reduce energy costs and eliminate environmental hazards that can hinder children's development.


• Expand early-intervention mentoring programs to help one million at-risk youth aspire for college and job success.


• Identify at-risk youth early on and provide $1 billion in intensive interventions, such as early college high schools and multiple pathways to graduation, to get them back on track.


• Double the after school program to ensure that 2 million young people have a safe and stimulating place to go between 3 and 6 p.m.


• Invest $100 million in a new public/private summer internship program.


• Provide opportunity for 1.5 million disconnected youth in job programs linked to high-growth economic sectors.

College Access
In the 21st century, a college education is more important than ever. Hillary believes it's time for a new bargain with the American people -- a bargain that gives all Americans willing to work hard the tools they need to get ahead. Her plan will make college more affordable and accessible so that every American who has earned it and wants to go has the chance to get a college degree. As president, she will:

• Create a new $3,500 college tax credit.


• Increase the maximum Pell Grant.


• Strengthen community colleges through a $500 million investment.


• Create a graduation fund to increase college graduation rates.


• Increase to $10,000 the college scholarship for those who participate in AmeriCorps full-time for one year.


• Get rid of the red tape in financial aid.


• Hold college costs down and hold colleges accountable for results though an online college cost calculator, a college graduation and employment rate index, and truth in tuition disclosure.


• Challenge selective colleges to expand access for students from low-income communities.

Just the Facts: Clinton Education Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/01/just-facts-clinton-education-plan.html

Just the Facts: Huckabee Education Plan

Mike Huckabee's education platform is different from most of the other candidates in that he doesn't list what he'd do as president, he lists what he implemented in Arkansas as governor and how that worked. In debates and media reports, he cites a recent study produced and published by Education Week, that claims Arkansas is ranked eighth in the nation for overall quality of education, a significant jump after being near the bottom for many years. However, others dispute that claim and say the numbers don't add up and that education in Arkansas is still lacking.

So let me lay out the facts and you can decide for yourself. According to Huckabee's campaign web site, these are his foundational tenets for his education platform:

I believe that every child should have the opportunity for a quality education that teaches the fundamental skills needed to become skilled and professional workers.

Music and the arts are not extraneous, extra-curricular, or expendable. They create a competitive and creative work force. I proposed legislation to provide music and art instruction by certified teachers for all Arkansas children in grades one through six, forty minutes a week. These programs have a powerful effect in leveling the academic playing field for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The study of music improves math scores, spatial reasoning and abstract thinking.

I have been a strong, consistent supporter of the rights of parents to home school their children, of creating more charter schools, and of public school choice.

We need a clear distinction between federal and state roles in education. While there is value in the "No Child Left Behind" law's effort to set high standards, states must be allowed to develop their own benchmark.

I created intensive reading and math programs that went back to basics that resulted in our test scores rising dramatically. I then created one of the most demanding high school curricula in the country, and the number of students taking advanced placement classes grew by leaps and bounds.

I opposed the teachers' union and got the Fair Dismissal Law passed, which allowed us to terminate poorly performing teachers.

I raised teachers' salaries from among the lowest in the nation to among the most competitive.

I created systems to make our schools accountable to both parents and taxpayers by insisting on transparency in how money is spent, efficiency in putting money into classroom programs rather than administrative costs, and clear responsibility of all employees for the tasks assigned to them.

I fought hard for more charter schools, with their strong parental involvement and their unique ability to serve as laboratories for education reform, and for the rights of parents to home school their children. I am a strong supporter of public school choice.

We need to test teachers as well as students, replace teachers who aren't competent, and impose reasonable waiting periods for teachers to gain tenure.

We should provide bonuses and forgive student loans for high-performing teachers to work in low-performing schools.

Just as there are executives in the corporate world who specialize in turning around failing companies, we need teachers who are "turn-around specialists" for failing schools.

Educators and teachers should be involved in the design of compensation initiatives that encourage training and promote performance based on merit, so that our children can have the best education in the world.

As President, my education agenda will include working towards a clear distinction between the federal role in assisting and empowering states and in usurping the right of states to carry out the education programs for their students. While there is value in the "No Child Left Behind" law's effort to set high national standards, states must be allowed to develop their own benchmarks.

Just the Facts: Huckabee Education Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/01/just-facts-huckabee-education-plan.html

Just the Facts: Edwards Education Plan

"There is nothing more important to our future than our country's schools. We all pay a price when young people who could someday find the cure for AIDS or make a fuel cell work are sitting on a stoop because they didn't get the education they needed." -- John Edwards

John Edwards offers a comprehensive education plan that starts with the educational needs of children at the preschool level. His focus on qualified teachers and successful schools is just one element of raising the bar for education in this country. He is also an advocate for raising graduation rates and providing the necessary funds to see special education programs fully funded. You can read John Edwards' education plan in its entirety on his campaign web site.

Offer Universal "Great Promise" Preschool to Four-Year-Olds

• Teach academic skills
• Develop children's language abilities and introduce them to early math, reading, and other academic concepts, as well as help develop their social and emotional skills.
• Start in needy communities
• Be led by excellent teachers
• Involve parents and their families
• Be voluntary and universally affordable

Create National Smart Start
Promotes the healthy development of children under the age of five. It helps local partnerships make child care higher quality and more affordable, provides health services and supports families. Participating children show better cognitive and language skills and fewer behavioral problems.

Smart Start will:

• Link together health care, child care, education, and family support services for children under five.
• Perform health care outreach for young children to get screening for health problems related to hearing, speech, vision, dental, and learning disabilities.
• Sponsor home visits to new families to improve prenatal health and the quality of caregiving after birth.

An Excellent Teacher in Every Classroom

• Raise Pay by up to $15,000 More for Teachers in High-Poverty Schools.
• Help states and school districts improve working conditions and increase time for teacher collaboration and planning.
• Address barriers for teachers moving between states by encouraging reciprocal credentials and studying ways to make pension plans compatible.
• Create a National Teacher University
• Help Teachers in Their Early Years
• Reduce Class Sizes
• Train More Excellent Principals
• Use Highly Qualified Teachers for Tutoring

Overhaul No Child Left Behind

• Better tests:Rather than requiring students to take cheap standardized tests, Edwards believes that we must invest in the development of higher-quality assessments that measure higher-order thinking skills, including open-ended essays, oral examinations, and projects and experiments.
• Broader measures of school success: Edwards believes that the law should consider additional measures of academic performance. The law should also allow states to track the growth of students over time, rather than only counting the number of students who clear an arbitrary bar, and give more flexibility to small rural schools.
• More flexibility: Edwards will give states more flexibility by distinguishing between schools where many children are failing and those where a particular group is falling behind. He will also let states implement their own reforms in under performing schools when there is good reason to believe that they will be at least equally effective.

Launch a "Great Schools" Initiative to Build and Expand 1,000 Successful Schools Across America, there are public schools that are helping children from all backgrounds succeed, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, small schools, and other models. Edwards will help 250 schools a year expand or start new branches. Federal funds will support new buildings, excellent teachers, and other needs. Among the schools he will support are:

• Small schools: Small high schools create stronger communities, reducing adolescent anonymity and alienation and encouraging teachers to work together. At 47 new small high schools recently opened in New York City, graduation rates are substantially higher than the citywide average. Communities can establish multiple schools within an existing facility, build new schools, and reopen old facilities.
• Early college high schools: High schools on college campuses let students earn both a high school diploma and an associates degree (or two years of transfer credit) in only five years. In North Carolina, Governor Mike Easley's Learn and Earn initiative raises rigor and aspirations, reduces tuition costs, and relieves overcrowded college campuses.
• Economically integrated schools: While income diversity is not a substitute for racial diversity, low-income students perform best when in middle-class schools where they are more likely to have experienced teachers and classmates with high aspirations. States can build magnet schools in low-income communities and create incentives for middle-class schools to enroll more low-income children.

Create a School Success Fund to Turn Around Struggling Schools
Edwards will ask teams of experienced educators to spend a year at struggling schools helping start reforms. These educators will tailor comprehensive solutions to each school, rather than adopting silver bullets or one-size-fits-all solutions.

• Provide resources to implement them: Some schools need more resources to help their children succeed. Resources will be available to recruit new school leadership and a core of excellent teachers, reduce class sizes, duplicate proven models, strengthen the curriculum, and other reforms.
• Emphasize extra learning time. Due to our 180-day school year, American children spend much 25 percent less instructional time than other countries, which adds up to more than two years by the end of high school. When combined with making better use of learning time and designed with educators, longer school days and years create new opportunities for children to master the basics and a broader curriculum.
• Establish stronger academic and career curricula. Edwards believes that all schools – even those in small, isolated, and high-poverty areas – should have access to challenging Advanced Placement courses. And he will support partnerships between high schools and community colleges to help high school students get the training they need for the good jobs where skilled workers are in short supply today.

Meet the Promise of Special Education
More than thirty years ago, Congress committed to fund 40 percent of the excess cost of educating children with disabilities, but it provides less than half that amount. George Bush has proposed a $300 million cut. Edwards opposes the Bush cuts and supports getting on a path toward meeting the federal promise.

Raise Graduation Rates
Edwards will create multiple paths to graduation such as Second Chance schools for former dropouts and smaller alternative schools for at-risk students. He will focus on identifying at-risk students and support the Striving Readers literacy program and one-on-one tutoring to keep them in school. Edwards will also fund additional guidance counselors in high-poverty schools.

Just the Facts: Edwards Education Plan

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2008/01/just-facts-edwards-education-plan.html