1. Education on the Ballot
- Author
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Hoff, David J. and Klein, Alyson
- Abstract
This article reports that education will be on the ballot November 4, even if the subject hasn't been on voters' minds much during the 2008 campaign season. The results of the elections are likely to have a significant impact on the way schools are financed, governed, and held accountable for the academic performance of their students. At the polls, voters will be choosing the next president and members of Congress, who will decide the future of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. They will elect governors in 11 states, state legislators in 44 states, and local officials in hundreds of cities, towns, counties, and school districts across the country. They will also weigh a host of education policy issues, including school financing and charter schools, through dozens of state and local ballot measures. But candidates aren't always giving clear indications of what they would do to improve the quality of American schools. On the biggest item of education business the next president is expected to face, the already-overdue NCLB reauthorization, the two major-party candidates have not been specific about such key questions as how they might change the law's accountability measures, improve the quality of its assessments, or finance it.
- Published
- 2008