John Edwards on Education

John Edwards on Education

JJohnston Per. 3

Senator John Edwards is one of the Democratic Presidential Candidates and grew up in a small, rural town in North Carolina, where education became very important to him. As a child he went through the public school systems and was the first in his family to go to college. He wants to dramatically improve the school systems in the United States.

John Edwards wants to start off when the kids are especially young. He wants to create “high-quality preschool programs for four-year-olds.” In these preschool programs, the specialized schools will “help 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.” These preschools would dramatically help four-year-olds prepare for kindergarten and elementary school. If the program works, fewer kids would struggle in school. He also wants parents to become involved in the children’s education. “Research shows that preschool benefits children the most when their parents are involved.” Parents can greatly influence children’s effort in school and Edward’s claims that their involvement is essential for them to succeed.

Although he voted for the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, he believes that it needs to change severely. He “criticizes President Bush for not requesting enough money to fully fund the act.” Edwards considers the Act to be exceptionally underfunded and that the ways of analyzing the students is unfair. Edwards states that there is not nearly enough money to help the kids in school, which leads to many kids who get “trapped in schools that don’t work.” Kids don’t get enough supplies in the poorer public schools and the “poor children were still being sent to schools that are ‘separate and unequal’”. He believes the government should provide the public schools with resources they need. John Edwards additionally believes that the No Child Left Behind Act should judge a student by giving a standardized test. Rather than providing schools with “cheap standardized tests,” Edwards would “develop higher-quality assessments that measure higher-order thinking skills, including open-ended essays, oral examinations, and projects and experiments.” These new assessments would allow the government to see what the child is really capable of and see their progress in school. Edwards thinks that the government should allow the states to track the performance of students over time instead of just looking at a test score and seeing if the students scored high enough. Edwards also wants more flexibility in the school systems, giving the states the power to “implement their own reforms in underperforming schools when there is good reason to believe that they will be at least equally effective.” Giving the states the power to reform their own schools is best for the students because the states will know what condition the schools are in and how to fix it.

John Edwards believes that “a great education starts with a great teacher. It’s simple as that.” Teachers are very important in how students perform in school. Many teachers don’t want to teach in the high-poverty schools, which hurts the kids in that area. Edwards wants to fix that by “rewarding teachers who work in high-poverty schools with up to $15,000 in incentive pay.” This would motivate teachers to come to these areas and help the schools progress. Edwards also want to keep the new teachers around because “a third of all new teachers leave the profession within three years.” Many teachers with promising talents sometimes quit the profession because it is very hard, especially when teaching a high-poverty school. Edwards would “encourage a transition year for rookie teacher with smaller class sizes, reduced teaching loads, and minimal extra duties.” These attributes would encourage the teachers to stick around and give them more confidence.

Senator John Edwards also has a thought out plan for students who want to attend college. Edwards want to create a program where students can get “one free year of college in return for 10 hours of community service a week and will pay for the $5 billion by reforming federal education loans.” Since Edwards didn’t come from a wealthy family, college was difficult to afford. If students put in the effort, they could get their first year of college free. This program would help many kids who succeed in school to follow their dreams. The plan would also simplify the financial aid process, which is “so complex that a student loan can be tougher than getting a small business loan.” After students are done with their free year of college, they will know that financial aid is available to them.

John Edwards wants to help as many people as he can to get an education. He wants to “provide continual education for those in the work force.” Continual education would allow low wage workers to follow the American dream to be prosperous. Edwards also wants to create “Second Chance” schools to get dropouts back on track. Most dropout regret not finishing school and this program would allow them to fix their mistake.

John Edwards has a plan for a dramatic change in the United States education system. He wants the children of America to have the chance to follow their dreams. Edwards based much of his plan for education off of his own experiences. “Without the combination of support from loving parents, terrific teachers, and public schools at every level, I would never be standing here today.”

Bibliography

· "John Edwards On the issues." On the Issues. OnTheIssues.Org & the SpeakOut Foundation. .

· "John Edwards on Education." Michigan Friends Center. .

· "Sen. John Edwards on the Issues." Washingtonpost.Com. Washington Post. .

· "Education and Schools are a Focus for Edwards." The New York Times. 22 Sept. 2007. The New York Times. .

· "Edwards Announces Bold Education Agenda to Restore the Promise of America's Schools." John Edwards 08. 21 Sept. 2007. John Edwards. .

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