Republican Nominee George W. Bush’s Education Plan

12 Pages 2954 Words

Republican Nominee George W. Bush’s Education Plan

Teachers, Student Testing, and Higher Education

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has proposed an education reform plan, which focuses on the youth of America, as a major part of his 2000 campaign. The proposed education plan, if enacted, would cost approximately $47 billion over a period of ten years. The major goal of Bush’s education agenda focuses on giving and maintaining states control of the education system, rather than promoting federal control of the educational system. Accountability is a key factor in the proposed education plan. Through the educational reform, the Bush campaign will create and support school voucher programs, mandatory student testing, and easier access to higher education institutions, among other measures which will attempt to promote and raise education standards across the United States, while holding states accountable for their overall improvements (http://www.voter.com). The emphasized goal of this reform will be to raise education standards, and thus raise student rates of meeting these higher standards. According to Governor Bush, “America today is in an education recession. Standards are not high enough; performance is not strong enough,” as stated during his PBS Address on Education, 10/30/2000. (Http://www.georgewbush.com/news.asp?FormMode=NR&Search=1&ID=2003).
Mr. Bush’s overall statement concerning the issue of education, found on the website, Voter.com, outlines major aspects of the education reform which he supports including:
 Empowering parents with information comparing their child’s school with other state schools.
 Empowering parents with the choice of schools their child may attend.
 Expanding education savings accounts for parents with an increase in allowance of annual contributions.
 Improving state charter schools through a Charter School Homestead Fund.
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