Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University

In case anyone out there is interested, the link below will provide an overview of what the two presidential candidates have to say about education and No Child Left Behind.

http://www.fairtest.org/what-presidential-candidates-are-saying-about-nclb

I have not read each and every word of the posting, and I am often dubious about these postings.

I am dubious about politicians in general, particularly in light of the recent economic developments. I am dubious about the economic expertise of our Senators and Congressmen (and Congresswomen). I find it hard to believe that there are 100 senators in the United States Senate and that no one apparently brought these economic issues to the attention of the public and media until we have a "crisis" on our hands. I do not know exactly how many Representatives there are in the House of Representatives, but I will find out and "get back to you" on that.

Still, apparently there does not seem to be much foresight on the part of politicians or Senators or Representatives. One wonders about the thinking skills of the people who are on the current Budget Committee. I do not know who is on the current "Education Committee" in the Senate, but I am about to find out. I do not know if they want my input or not.

The above internet site was posted by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. It was posted Sept 5, 2008. I am not sure who wrote it. I can't seem to find the author.

This posting provides the website of John McCain as www.johnmccain.

com

and the web site of Barack Obama as www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/PreK-12EducationFactSheet.pdfYou may just want to try www.barackobama.com and navigate around a bit.

The Fair Test posting also has some discussion about Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr. I guess they are trying to give equal time to these candidates. They provide Nader's web site as www.votenader.org and Barr's as www.bobbarr2008.com

The Fair Test posting provides some comments from speeches given by Senator Barack Obama and some excerpts from John McCain's web site and a briefstatement from a Wall Street Journal article of May 29th.

I am dubious about either candidates ability to bring about significant change, particularly in such perilous economic times. I do believe that values and attitudes can be transmitted from the White House to the national organizations, and sometimes even directly to the people. I do believe that sometimes people can be heard, such as in the case of Joe the Plumber and sometimes one citizen can, with proper questioning reveal some of the true agendas of certain candidates. It is too bad that Joe the Plumber didn't ask Obama about his views on education.

Maybe we would have found out more than just what is posted on some web site.

Published October 25, 2008