As we mentioned previously, education is a unique issue because both sides strongly agree on the desired outcome and have committed large amounts of money to it. It's also an area where more Americans are generally okay with larger-than-normal government programs, mainly because equal opportunity is a value deeply embedded within us.
 
Differences are clear in this election, however, and they mainly fall along party lines. Obama wants to increase funding for several programs while starting several new programs. He proposes this as his "historic commitment" to improve the current public system, which would make the federal government's role in education much larger than it currently is (a liberal value). McCain wants to keep funding at its current level while proposing ways to make our current system better. He also wants to increase a parent's ability to choose where their child goes to school (a conservative value).

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Last time, we summarized Obama’s education plan. Today, we will take a look at McCain’s. For his complete plan, you can visit his website.
 
McCain’s plan isn’t as long or detailed as Obama’s. That’s likely due to his general philosophy about education: it should mainly stay in the hands of the states. The McCain approach is about allowing the states to determine what is working and to provide support for those programs. In this view, the states drive change and the federal government's role is to draw attention to working models, encouraging other states to try them.

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The previous entry in this education series outlined a brief history of America's current education system. The next two blogs will discuss both Obama and McCain’s specific plans.
 
Today, we’ll look at Obama’s. You can click here to view his entire plan on his website, but here’s a brief synopsis:
 
When it comes to Early Childhood Education, Obama plans to implement universal pre-school for all children, quadruple funding for Early Head-Start, and increase Head Start funding.

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Education is one of the most important issues for young voters in the upcoming Presidential election. And for good reason.

Education is an interesting topic because everybody agrees on the desired outcome: an educated population. The debate occurs over determining the best means to that end.

Both Republicans and Democrats are pro-education, but there is a difference. Conservatives tend to favor choice and financial freedom for parents, which lines up with the conservative principle of freedom of choice. Liberals, on the other hand, focus more on strengthening existing systems. This is why you often hear of Republicans advocating for a voucher system while Democrats argue that funding should stay in the public system.

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“Back-to-School” is here. Many of us are moving into dorms, adapting to new classes, or taking the little one to Target to buy oversized pencils.

While the start of the new school year looks different for all of us, one thing is certain: we naturally think a bit more about education.

If you happen to be entering grad school or are starting a savings account for Baby Einstein’s future college bills, your initial thought about education probably has something to do with its skyrocketing price tag.

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Last time we took a look at expanding both fossil fuel production and the kinds of fossil fuels produced. While further exploration of fossil fuels is a necessary part of energy relief, the development of alternative energy technology is imperative if the U.S. is to achieve energy independence.  So let’s look at what’s needed for alternative energy to catch on as well as the benefits of switching.

First, if alternative energy is to succeed, it needs to be marketed in a new light. Conservatives are a funny breed, and if the Left is all for something, that’s usually enough of a reason for them oppose it (although to be honest, liberals are the same way).

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The term “fossil fuel” has become a dirty word when discussing energy policy. Not only are they responsible for draining our pocketbooks at the pump, they also destroy the environment and may or may not fund terrorism. Outrageous! 

The unfortunate truth, however, is that for the foreseeable future our economy will continue to run on fossil fuels, primarily oil. Thus we need a short-term (fossil fuel) and long-term (green technology) energy strategy garnered toward delivering a cheap, reliable, domestically produced supply of energy.

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