Republican Nominee George W. Bush’s Education Plan

12 Pages 2954 Words

61558; Reforming Head Start to incorporate the teaching of pre-reading and numeric skills.
 The transition of Head Start Programs to be moved and maintained under the Department of Education.
 Increasing research of educational methods utilized in attempt to determine which may better serve the needs of the learners.
 And mandatory, yearly testing in each state. (http://www.voter.com/home/candidates/info/issues/0,1220,2-11338_744031-,00.html

Much of the education reform proposal has been influenced by the improvement of test results over the past four years in the state of Texas, during which time George W. Bush served as governor. According to a three year RAND study conducted, “Texas is one of two states that have made the greatest overall academic gains in recent years” (http://www.georgewbush.com/News.asp?FormMode=NR&Search=1&1D+1910). The vast improvements occurring in Texas schools, while Bush served as Governor, has seemed to spawn his goal to reform America’s schools, which he stated during his PBS address, “Education has been the constant focus of my service as governor of Texas and of my campaign for president,” (http://www.georgewbush.com/news.asp?FormMode=NR&Search=1&1D=2003).

From George W. Bush’s Education Reform proposal, I have chosen to focus on three of the many important aspects included within his proposed reform, which include teachers, mandatory student testing, and access to higher education.

Teachers
“Teachers are not the object of education reform, they are the engine of education reform.” – Governor George W. Bush

As Governor Bush claims, the path to better school systems relies heavily on accountability, he does acknowledge that this weight should not be demanded upon teachers. According to his “Strong Teachers, Strong Schools” proposal, Bush feels education should be a ‘partnership’ between government and teachers, “…as government ask...