School days: Obama and McCain at NAACP Convention 2008

During the 99th annual convention of the NAACP ten days ago, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama outlined their education policies to the nearly 3,000 delegates gathered in Cincinnati. Sen. John McCain promoted school choice and vouchers to help parents defray the costs of private schooling. “What is the value of access to a failing school?” he asked rhetorically. The NAACP does not support vouchers. It believes that school choice depletes public schools of the brightest students and leaves children and the support for public schools behind.

McCain said it is time to “shake off old ways and to demand new reforms in education.” Some of the reforms he mentioned were to give more spending discretion to principals and to establish new public virtual charter schools and online courses focusing on math and science. McCain also endorsed alternative certification for professionals transitioning into the teaching profession. Critical of teacher certification as a measure of teaching ability, McCain said “You can be a Nobel laureate and not be qualified to teach.” He said that parents only want “schools that are safe and teachers that are confident,” and he pledged to recruit new college graduates into teaching who ranked at the top of their classes. “We need their fine minds and good hearts,” he said to a largely polite but unconvinced audience.

In a surprise question and answer session following his remarks, McCain took questions on certification and pay raises for Headstart teachers. McCain disapproved of one delegate’s recommendation that Headstart teachers be paid higher wages. Instead, he called for greater scrutiny of teacher effectiveness in the school preparatory program before wage increases should be considered.

Sen. Barack Obama, in his address to the NAACP convention, pledged to make sure all children get a “world class education” from childbirth to college graduation. He told a receptive NAACP audience that the country needs to “uphold the ideal of public education,” but also to “fix” our public schools. Obama said his strategy would include recruiting an “army of new quality teachers,” increasing their pay and giving them more support. Further, he would provide tax credits of $4000 for college bound students.

The differences in the candidates positions were not only based on policy but approach. Obama presented his education strategy in light of chronic social ills such as poverty, lack of affordable housing, increased crime and violence—problems that contribute to poor academic performance, high drop out rates and, too often, incarceration.

As a corollary to his education plan, Obama pledged to expand job programs, keep police on neighborhood beats, and build on successful programs such as the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City—a highly regarded program that focuses on education and social issues to “rebuild the fabric” of communities in decline. These ideas are essential to any education policy aimed at reviving a vital public school education today in our country and in Greater New Haven in particular.

Among Greater New Haven students, performance on the Connecticut Mastery Test released mid-July revealed both significant and modest gains in reading, math, writing, and science. While a gain is a gain, it is evident that more needs to be done to obtain and sustain greater academic achievement by all students.

Redeeming public school education in the region will require institutional reforms that increase school funding, improve teacher quality, stem drop out rates among other issues. At the same time, reform measures are need to strengthen significant factors that influence academic performance such as parental involvement and mentoring, and to reverse debilitating factors such as joblessness or lack of affordable housing.

The Greater New Haven NAACP education committee has committed itself to advocate for equal funding, access and resources for education, quality certified teachers, a rigorous and culturally balanced curriculum. Every one who believes in these goals is urged to join the NAACP in our effort to bolster public schools in Greater New Haven and inspire our children to use education to help them realize their greatest potential.

Lisa Monroe is chairperson of the Education Committee for the Greater New Haven NAACP. She can be reached at ctnaacpedu@gmail.com.