Presidential politics and school vouchers

Will both presidential candidates end up supporting vouchers for public charter schools?

John McCain endorsed the Education Equality Project, thus aligning himself with Al Sharpton and Joel Klein on calling for immediate steps to “Empower parents by giving them a meaningful voice in where their children are educated including public charter schools.”

Strange bedfellows, right?

From McCain’s speech to the Urban League:

If I am elected president, school choice for all who want it, an expansion of Opportunity Scholarships, and alternative certification for teachers will all be part of a serious agenda of education reform.

[Snip]

Under my reforms, parents will exercise freedom of choice in obtaining extra help for children who are falling behind. As it is, federal aid to parents for tutoring for their children has to go through another bureaucracy. They can't purchase the tutoring directly, without dealing with the same education establishment that failed their children in the first place. These needless restrictions will be removed. If a student needs extra help, parents will be able to sign them up to get it, with direct public support.
Some of these reforms, and others, are contained in a Statement of Principles drafted by a group dedicated to finally changing the status quo in our education system. The Education Equality Project has brought together leaders from all across the political spectrum, including school Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City. Chancellor Klein is a strong supporter of charter schools, because he understands that fundamental reform is needed. As he puts it, "in large urban areas the culture of public education is broken. If you don't fix this culture, then you are not going to be able to make the kind of changes that are needed." Among others who share this conviction are Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, Chancellor Michelle Rhee of Washington, and Harold Ford, Junior. You know that a reform movement is truly bipartisan when J.C. Watts and Al Sharpton are both members. And today I am proud to add my name as well to the list of those who support the aims and principles of the Education Equality Project.
But one name is still missing, Senator Obama's. My opponent talks a great deal about hope and change, and education is as good a test as any of his seriousness. The Education Equality Project is a practical plan for delivering change and restoring hope for children and parents who need a lot of both. And if Senator Obama continues to defer to the teachers unions, instead of committing to real reform, then he should start looking for new slogans.

Sounds like a challenge to Obama, who has not formally signed on with either Education Equality Project or the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education. It has been reported that Obama agrees with the goal underlying both statements that schools need to improve for all children, but has not stated a preference for one approach or the other.

It will be interesting to see how the debate shapes up as we get nearer to the November elections. Although education may not be the top issue of this presidential race, its relationship to our economic well-being may be garnering the attention of more voters, perhaps helped in part by discussions about this book.

According to some survey results, most African Americans and Hispanics support vouchers. Additionally, in Florida they found that combining a voucher proposal with a requirement that 65 percent of every education dollar be spent in the classroom dramatically increased its support among voters.

I think it’s likely that Obama will come out in support of school vouchers, modifying his position in the same manner he did when he came out in support of offshore oil drilling last week. He may already have a script for supporting vouchers while not totally dismissing the concerns of the teachers unions and other interested groups. How about this?

"At some point, people are going to have to make decisions, do we want to keep on arguing or are we going to get things done? What I will not do, and this has always been my position, is to support a plan that suggests that drilling is the answer to our energy problems vouchers are the answer to our education problems. If we've a plan on the table that I think meets the goals that America has to set, and there are some things in there that I don't like, then, obviously, that's something that, you know, I would consider because that's the nature of how we govern in a democracy.”

I’m as cynical as most anyone when it comes to politics, but I do think it would be a good thing for both presidential candidates to endorse vouchers.