Clinton on Education

by David Safier

Yesterday, I posted a summary of Obama’s education agenda. Today it’s Clinton’s turn. You can read about her proposals on the Improving Our Schools page on her website. For more detailed information, follow the “Hillary’s Plans” links.

I have to say, Clinton’s bold, innovative program for education surprised me, in a good way. Many of her ideas are way outside the usual education-reform box and are far more exciting than the ideas Obama proposes. Here’s hoping that a Democratic president, either Clinton or Obama, gives a few of her education advisors a role in the administration.

Clinton proposes a universal Pre-K program for three and four year olds, staffed by teachers with specialized training. “Universal” doesn’t mean “mandatory.” It means it will be available for anyone who wants it. Nothing new here, but an idea that needs to happen.

Clinton begins to think outside the box when she proposes having nurses visit first-time mothers at home to prepare them to care for their newborns. Programs of this kind already exist in the U.S. and in other countries around the world, but Clinton clearly wants to make the service more available. She is linking a child’s earliest years to later educational achievement. We need more of that kind of thinking.

Clinton’s dropout prevention ideas are also innovative and far reaching. Like Obama, she recommends beginning to work with potential dropouts in middle schools. She wants to make sure at risk students get academic experiences that prepare them for college, and she wants to create partnerships with businesses and colleges that give students direct contact with some of the opportunities that exist outside of their neighborhoods. Again, good stuff. It’s hard for young people to imagine themselves in college or in a profession if they have never had any direct contact with those worlds.

Clinton proposes “Early College High Schools” where students can earn high school diplomas and community college associate’s degrees. She has other ideas that she refers to as “multiple pathways to graduation.” I applaud her desire to get rid of the one-size-fits-all approach to education, especially for high school students whose needs tend to vary so greatly.

Clinton even thinks about those who have already dropped out in her educational program, providing training and jobs to give them the ability to earn a decent living. Along with this, she wants to increase enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, to make sure that someone who is willing to work will not be passed over for reasons that have nothing to do with ability.

Clinton wants to increase the payment of child support by absent fathers – not the amount they should pay but the guarantee that they will pay – and she suggests some plausible ways to accomplish this. Her concern for the precarious economic situations of many single mothers as an educational issue is another insightful leap on her part.

Finally, her plan to get more students in college and completing a degree involves a $3,500 tax credit for college, increased Pell Grants, and financial incentives for students interested in public service to have some of their loans forgiven.

Clinton does not put a pricetag on all these proposals, and she says she will pay for them by closing tax loopholes. Neither she nor Obama is willing to admit that we have to spend lots of new money to improve education significantly. Unfortunately, saying, “We need more taxes to pay for better education” these days is another way of saying, “Don’t vote for me.”

I’m impressed that Clinton is willing to go out on a limb here, proposing bold programs that think about “education” as more than traditional schooling. Many of her ideas are untested, and I imagine some of them would prove unworkable or unsuccessful. But that’s fine by me. We need to open our educational system to the possibility of diverse approaches and innovation.

Same old, same old ain’t gonna get it done.