🇺🇸 ☞ Presidential Debate & Primary Schedule 1995/1996

Democratic Debate Schedule

Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Univision Democratic Primary Debate
Location: Miami, Florida
Sponsors: Univision, The Washington Post
Candidates: TBD
Read more at http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-debate-schedule/2016-democratic-primary-debate-schedule/#rvu4rf8fDVCQs7fG.99

Republican Debate Schedule

Thursday, March 10, 2016
CNN/Salem Republican Debate
Aired On: CNN
Location: Florida
Sponsors: CNN, Salem Media Group
Candidates: To be determined
*Debate sponsor has not yet named specific date
Read more at http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-debate-schedule/2016-republican-primary-debate-schedule/#DO5ml4MKZp1SLWUj.99

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Where the Current 2016 Presidential Hopefuls Stand on Education

The Democrats

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Some of the major issues with education Clinton would like to address with her potential presidency would be teacher pay, putting behavioral skill-training into the nation-wide curriculum, and investing in universal preschool. 

Clinton wants to increase funding to special education, a promise she said the federal government made but hasn't fulfilled since streamlining students with disabilities into regular classrooms. She wants an investment into education research to avoid jumping from "fad to fad" and she wants to see more energy and funding dedicated to improving the education of children from low-income families. 

Major Education Endorsements

Clinton is poised to have the endorsement of the National Education Association, despite some dissent on whether to endorse her or Sanders. 

"Last month, the NEA in New Hampshire also endorsed Clinton. But support for a Clinton endorsement within NEA’s rank and file isn’t widespread. Vermont’s NEA chapter endorsed Sanders in June. NEA chapters in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nebraska urged the national council to wait before acting," according to Politico.com.

Fixing the School-to-Prison Pipeline 

In February, Clinton announced her intention to invest $2 billion in fixing the school-to-prison pipeline that affects minority communities. She said she intended to use the money to reform disciplinary practices in school districts throughout the country. 

Supporting Longer School Days and Years

Clinton said that she is in support of longer school days and years to help disadvantaged students keep up with learning despite challenges. 

On the Common Core: She supports it, and has called the argument surrounding it "unfortunate" during a round-table discussion on education in Iowa earlier this year. Clinton, answering a question from a Common Core-supporter, said Iowa is generally in favor of the standards because it has adopted a solid structure for implementation.

"So Iowa has had a testing system based on a core curriculum for a really long time, and you see the value of it. You understand why that helps you organize your whole education system," she said.

On the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): 

According to Politico, "Hillary Clinton praised the bill, saying it wasn’t perfect, but it 'retains a commitment to high academic standards, enables communities to strike a better balance on testing, requires districts and states to take action to turn around struggling schools, and allows states to take a holistic approach when measuring school success.'"

Bernie Sanders

Similarly to Clinton, Sanders hopes to address low teacher pay and early education in his presidency. He called the notion of beginning education when children reach four or five years old "archaic." 

On the subject of standardized testing, in 2001, Sanders voted against the final No Child Left Behind Act that has now become an infamous piece of legislation that educators and policymakers a like are desperate to replace. More recently, thought, during the Senate's re-write of the act, Sanders voted in favor of a measure called the Murphy amendment, which would have supported keeping some parts of the federal mandates behind NCLB, such as punishing schools considered to be failing based on test scores. 

Sanders is passionate about decreasing the cost of higher education and resolving student debt.

On the Common Core: Sanders has remained relatively mum on how he feels about the Common Core, but in 2011 voted in favor of an act set to overhaul No Child Left Behind and give more flexibility to the state and local governments in regard to education as Senator in Vermont. 

Curiously, however, in March of this year, he voted against an anti-Common Core amendment that would allow states to opt-out of educational standards without penalty, therefore making his stance unclear. 

On the ESSA: Though Sanders supported overhauling NCLB, he sat outon casting a vote for ESSA. 

The Republicans

Ted Cruz

Cruz is totally in favor of school choice and believes in children having many options for how to pursue education. As a result, he's very vocal about his support of homeschooling and charter schools. 

Cruz has added "Homeschoolers for Cruz" to his campaign; he believes the country's foundation is built on familial values and therefore supports homeschooling across the country. 

On the Common Core: Cruz is against the Common Core and is in favor of totally repealing the standards.  He voted against the standards in both 2013 and 2014 

On the ESSA: Cruz vehemently opposes the ESSA. He released a statement after its passing saying: 

“The Every Student Succeeds Act unfortunately continues to propagate the large and ever-growing role of the federal government in our education system—the same federal government that sold us failed top-down standards like Common Core... Our children deserve better, which is why I cannot support this bill." 

Marco Rubio

Rubio, like Paul, has also gone on the record saying he would consider eliminating the Department of Education. Paul is also an opponent of local governments controlling education. Also, controversially, Rubio has said he believes evolution should be questioned in the science classroom—and that the possibility that creationism exists should be taught alongside it.

On the Common Core: Rubio is against the Common Core.

"...if you create some sort of national standard, even as a suggestion, it will turn into a mandate the federal government will force on our students and our local school boards and you’re going to end up with a national school board," he said. 

On the ESSA: Though Rubio opposes the legislation, like Cruz and Paul, because it gives too much power still to the federal government, he missed the vote.  

Donald Trump

The billionaire, who would experience his first time in elected office if nominated president, would like to see the Department of Education cut down and he is a big supporter of local control of education.

He is against teacher unions, calling them "monopolies." 

On the Common Core: Trump is against the Common Core. He has publicly criticized hopeful Jeb Bush's support of the standards. He recently released a video with his intentions to get ride of the Common Core if elected, though he didn't give specifics as to how and what would replace it. 

On the ESSA: Unclear, though he most likely opposes, since, like Cruz, he's said he would completely eliminate the Department of Education if elected. 

  

John Kasich

​The Ohio Gov. John Kasich does not support teacher unions, a controversial component of his stance on education. He is also a big supporter of school choice and signed into law in 2011 Ohio's voucher program EdChoice that is annually increasing by the thousands. 

He is a proponent of expanding and funding early education to help low-income and impoverished families and to level the opportunity playing field. 

Kasich said during The 74's Education Summit a little about his state's third grade reading guarantee, a good example of his stance on education. As governor, he made a controversial decision to ensure that students who cannot read at the third grade level do not go onto fourth grade. He says his initiative offers support beginning in pre-k to help students read by third grade and that the results, despite initial opposition, have been overwhelmingly positive. 

He also said during the Summitt that he is a proponent of mentoring kids of all ages, all incomes, and all cultures. 

On the Common Core: Kasich supports the Common Core. A minority in the 2016 election's Republican primary, Kasich said earlier this year, "That is not something that Barack Obama is putting together. … It's local school boards developing local curriculum to meet higher standards. I cannot figure out what's wrong with that," according to Cinncinati.com. 

On the ESSA: Kasich likely supports the ESSA, because he's gone on the record supporting standards from the gov't (Common Core), and has blasted his fellow Republican candidates for opposing the standards and the DOE merely to get votes. 

Is there anything else you'd like to know about these candidates? Let us know.