John McCain on Education (continued)

So how does McCain plan on improving NCLB? Holtz-Eakin says the law needs to start addressing the underlying cultural problems in our education system, instead of avoiding genuine accountability. Instead, he says McCain wants to empower parents “by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for their children. All federal financial support must be predicated on providing parents the ability to move their children, and the dollars associated with them, from failing schools.” McCain strongly supports more local control of education funding, citing the successes of charter schools as evidence that money directed by principals, not politicians, has greater effect. However, McCain proposes no increase in spending for education in his plans.

Standardized Testing

When it comes to improving the education system, McCain says accountability is the name of the game. “We must continue to set standards and hold schools accountable for their performance,” McCain says. Holtz-Eakin says the kind of accountability testing implemented through No Child Left Behind offers a good start. “We should never shrink from the truth, or seek to soften accountability where schools are failing in their most basic responsibility. Where schools fail to meet Annual Yearly Progress, they have failed students, parents and communities,” he says. However, McCain has indicated that his plan will help students keep up by making tutoring more readily accessible for children who are struggling. “If a student needs extra help, parents will be able to sign them up to get it, with direct public support,” he says.

Virtual Schools

A new feature of McCain’s plan for education reform is to devote more resources towards online learning through virtual schools. “I propose to direct $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools, and to support the development of online courses for students." These would not be new funds for education-- they would be current funds diverted for this purpose. "Through competitive grants, we will allocate another $250 million to support state programs expanding online education opportunities, including the creation of new public virtual charter schools,” he told the NAACP.

Teacher Quality

McCain strongly endorses the idea of “merit pay,” or giving higher teacher pay based on student performance and a teacher's willingness to work in low-achieving schools. “We will pay bonuses to teachers who take on the challenge of working in our most troubled schools – because we need their fine minds and good hearts to help turn those schools around,” he told the NAACP. “We will award bonuses as well to our high-achieving teachers.” McCain also criticized the stringent requirements for teacher certification as keeping good teachers out of the classroom. “You could be a Nobel Laureate and not qualify to teach in most public schools today,” he said. “They don’t have the proper credits in educational “theory” or “methodology” – all they have is learning and the desire and ability to share it.”