Education Week - July 20, 2016 - 22

ACADEMIC STANDARDS

K-12 ISSUES

WHERE THE CANDIDATES STAND
The presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees for
president-Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump-have yet to release
comprehensive K-12 policy plans. To give a sense of where they stand,
Education Week reviewed their statements, proposals, and positions on
a dozen education policy issues, from school choice to school safety.
Some material is drawn from their 2016 presidential campaigns, some
from before they began their current quests for the White House.

CLINTON
* Supports the Common Core
State Standards.
* As first lady of Arkansas, led an effort
to raise graduation standards and
expand rigorous course offerings.
* As a U.S. senator, introduced legislation
calling for states to create voluntary
math and science standards.

TRUMP
* Has been clear throughout the
campaign: wants the Common
Core State Standards gone.
* The federal government can't get rid
of the standards unless it adopts a
new law banning the common core
outright, which is very unlikely.
* Hasn't detailed why he detests the
standards so much. But that didn't
stop him from attacking former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, his one-time
rival for the GOP nomination, for
supporting the common core.

COLLEGE ACCESS
BULLYING
CLINTON
* Would resurrect the School Climate and Transformation grant program, which
received $23 million in fiscal 2014, and increase it to $200 million.
* That money could be used to help schools create "school climate
support teams" made up of social workers, behavorial specialists, and
educators to help districts rethink their approach to discipline.
* Wants to make sure other federal funds can be used to train teachers on so-called
restorative-justice practices, in which students seek to make amends for their actions.
* Has said that Trump's campaign tactics set a bad example for students on bullying.
TRUMP
* Hasn't specifically weighed in on bullying in schools, which
has gotten more attention in recent years.
* The Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group, recently cited an
unscientific survey of teachers it said shows that Trump's campaign rhetoric
is linked to more students feeling unsafe or singled out by their peers.

SCHOOL CHOICE
CLINTON
* Said public schools can
learn from successful
charter schools in a recent
speech to the National
Education Association, drawing
boos from the audience.
* Offended some charter
school advocates last year
by saying that charters don't
serve all students, unlike
traditional public schools.
* Praised provisions to expand
high-quality charter schools in
the Every Student Succeeds Act.
* Opposes private school vouchers.
In fact, in a 2008 interview with
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
she said they could be used to
fund training grounds for jihad.
TRUMP
* While not discussing the issue
on the campaign trail, in the
past has made clear he's a
fan of educational choice.
* In his 2000 book, The America We
Deserve, wrote that competition,
in a variety of forms, was
better for education.

"I have for many years now, about 30
years, supported the idea of charter
schools, but not as a substitute for
the public schools, but as
a supplement for the
public schools."
-Town hall meeting, South Carolina

CLINTON
* Wants to offer students who come
from families that make less than
$125,000 the chance to go to public
colleges and universities for free.
* Wants to hold colleges accountable
for reining in costs and doing more to
help students, including disadvantaged
students, graduate on time. Would expect
students to work 10 hours a week to help
defray the cost of college attendance.
* Wants to make it easier for those in
public service, including teachers,
to have their loans forgiven.
* As a senator in 2007, introduced
legislation to expand access to Pell Grants
for so-called nontraditional students
and to provide competitive grants to
revamp remedial education classes.

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
CLINTON
* Wants to create "Modernize Every
School Bonds," a five-year $275
billion infrastructure program.
* Wants to bring ultra high-speed,
fiber-optic broadband to schools
and libraries and ensure that every
household has access to broadband.

"Education
reformers
call this
school
choice, charter
schools, vouchers,
even opportunity
scholarships. I call it
competition-the
American way."

"We have too many kids in our
country right now who are living in
poverty, who are going to schools
like the ones in Detroit
that have mold and
rodents in them."

-The America We Deserve

-Democratic debate, Flint, Mich.

SCHOOL SPENDING
CLINTON
* Has said sufficient education
funding is necessary to implement
the Every Student Succeeds Act.
* Has called for new investments
in computer science education,
early-childhood education,
college access, and more.
* Wants to double funding for the
Education Innovation and Research

grants, the successor to the $120 million
Investing in Innovation program.
TRUMP
* Said he envisions a better educational
system that also spends less.
* Has claimed incorrectly that the
United States is No. 1 in the world
in per-pupil spending, although the
country does rank high in that regard.

TRUMP
* In an interview with Inside Higher
Education, Sam Clovis, who is
advising Trump on domestic policy,
said the candidate wants student
loans to originate with banks,
not the federal government.
* Clovis also said colleges should have
"skin in the game" when it comes to
college loans, an idea that has raised
concerns about low-income students'
ability to enroll in higher education.
* The adviser expressed interest in shifting
the U.S. Department of Education's
office for civil rights, which among
other duties tracks incidents of sexual
violence on college campuses, to
the U.S. Department of Justice.
* The candidate is known for having
opened the now-defunct Trump
University, which is the subject of legal
complaints that it defrauded students.

* As a senator, introduced legislation to
create state and multistate "infrastructure
banks" that could be used to cover
school construction projects.
TRUMP
* In an April speech, lamented spending
on roads and schools in Iraq while school
construction in the U.S. has languished.
* Hasn't laid out a plan to address school
construction needs around the country.

"We can't get a f---ing
school built in Brooklyn."
-Speech in Las Vegas

COMPLETE CONVENTION COVERAGE
Education Week will offer on-the-ground
coverage of the Republican National Convention
in Cleveland July 18-21 and the Democratic
National Convention in Philadelphia July 25-28.
Follow what it all means for K-12
policymakers at edweek.org, with
reporting from Politics K-12's
Alyson Klein and Andrew Ujifusa
(aklein@epe.org, aujifusa@epe.org)
and photographers and videographers
Deanna Del Ciello and Swikar Patel
(ddelciello@epe.org, spatel@epe.org).

http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - July 20, 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - July 20, 2016