Mitt Romney (R) on Education
Ledyard King / USA Today
On No Child Left Behind law
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has talked about how his views on federal involvement in education have evolved. Romney said during a May 2007 debate in South Carolina that he supported abolishing the Department of Education during his 1994 U.S. Senate bid because "it was very popular with the (GOP) base.”
As governor from January 2003 to January 2007, he said he saw the impact the agency had in “holding down the interests of the teachers union.” He said that is why he embraced the No Child Left Behind education law, which requires states to test students annually. “I find the testing of our kids to be a good thing, to find out which schools are succeeding and which ones are failing,” he said at a New Hampshire town meeting in August 2007.
On making college affordable
As governor, Romney established a scholarship program to reward the top 25% of Massachusetts high school students with a four-year, tuition-free scholarship to any state public university or college.
Other education priorities
Romney supports vouchers that would allow students from low-income areas pay for private-school tuition. As governor, he advocated merit pay for teachers, English immersion classes for foreign-speaking students, and increased math and science requirements. He told a New Hampshire crowd in August 2007 that the failure of inner-city schools is “the great civil rights issue of our time.”
johnslat
about 1 year ago
2076 comments
Well, let's let his record "speak for itself."
Education
Romney currently supports the federal government's involvement in education and supports No Child Left Behind. He said that he supports testing in schools and that testing "allows us to get better schools."[17] Romney also approved efforts in Massachusetts to require parents in poorly performing schools to attend parental education classes and awarding four-year scholarships to the best students. He also said he "favors giving all sixth-graders a laptop and paying bonuses to teachers who successfully teach science and math".[24] In his 1994 run for the Senate, Romney supported abolishing the Department of Education but has since renounced that. In the second presidential debate in South Carolina, he said,
I've taken a position where, once upon a time, I said I wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That was my position when I ran for Senate in 1994. That's very popular with the base. As I've been a governor and seen the impact that the federal government can have holding down the interest of the teachers' unions and instead putting the interests of the kids and the parents and the teachers first, I see that the Department of Education can actually make a difference.[17]
In 1994 Romney, as a candidate for U.S. Senate, pledged to vote to establish a means-tested school voucher program to allow students to attend the public or private school of their choice. (Boston Globe review of 1994 campaign issues March 21 2002).
Romney has stated that superintendents and principals should be able to fire teachers without regard for seniority. [25] He also has stated that he is in favor of standardized testing as a high school graduation requirement and alternative education options for parents and students. He has declared his support for charter schools, school vouchers and home schooling.[citation needed]. Romney has said that good education is needed to compete in the global economy.[26]
Romney has said that science-based sex education has no place in kindergarten. [27] According to Romney, "the amount of sex education which is appropriate in kindergarten is absolutely zero."[28]
[edit]Abstinence education
Romney has declared his support for abstinence education in public schools. In his run for the Senate in 1994, he said one of the programs that should be taught in schools was "the importance of getting married before having children."[29]
In the May 2007 South Carolina debate, Romney said he has always "fought for abstinence education".[17]