Part 4 of the candidate-supporter diary series
As many of you may be aware, we have two daughters, one is 2 yrs. old (Christine) and the other turned 10 (Janine.)
Naturally, education is one of the biggest issues and concerns for our family. I have been dissecting all candidate's educational platforms closely and what I have found in Clinton's approach is one of the main reasons I settled on her as my favored candidate for the nomination.
I am quite confident, after looking at Clinton's record and educational plans and proposals that the teacher's unions (such as the NEA and AFT) will be putting their endorsements and considerable weight behind Clinton's candidacy. It would surprise me if the choice went any other way based on what I have seen in terms of the individual's educational credentials.
First a bit of history:
After receiving a grant, Clinton's first job in 1970 was working for the Children Defense Fund. During her second year in law school, Hillary Clinton volunteered at Yale's Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development, as well as New Haven Hospital, where she took on cases of child abuse and the city Legal Services, providing free legal service to the poor. Upon graduation from law school, she served as staff attorney for the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
source: http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/f irstladies.aspx?biography=43
In 1996 Hillary Clinton penned the book "It takes a village to raise a child."
This old African proverb was the title of the book Clinton penned in 1996, and it perfectly illustrates the through-and-through progressive nature of Hillary Clinton. In essence, progressivism believes in the idea that government can, better than private enterprise, provide social services to its citizens. If it is done efficiently and smart, it is infinitely better equipped to provide virtually any service imaginable (health care, education, social security, elderly care, child services, etc.) because it does not need to run ever-increasing profits, just break even. It can save money due to its increased buying power over fragmented "for profit" services and, in its ideal form, is a mere servant to the citizenry. That is in essence what "It takes a village" is all about. All of us, society in general, have to pull together to take care of our children's needs, from teachers, health care providers, parents to neighbors, friends, even "all of us" in the form of government. Extend that to the elderly, the poor, the disabled, the war-wounded, and you have a society that helps its sick and poor instead of turning its backs on them.
Here is Clinton's speech at the 1996 Democratic convention addressing the idea of all of us pulling together to improve the lives of every individual:
http://www.happinessonline.org/LoveAndHe lpChildren/p12.htm
Here are some what I found to be moving and poignant comments from Hillary Clinton addressing the book itself:
'It Takes A Village....'By Hillary Rodham Clinton
I write these words looking out through the windows in the White House at the city of Washington in all its beauty and squalor, promise and despair. In the shadow of great power, so many feel powerless. These contradictions color my feelings when I think about my own child and all our children. My worry for these children has increased, but remarkably, so has my hope for their future.
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
We know much more now than we did even a few years ago about how the human brain develops and what children need from their environments to develop character, empathy, and intelligence. When we put this knowledge into practice, the results are astonishing. Also, because when I read, travel, and talk with people around the world, it is increasingly clear to me that nearly every problem children face today has been solved somewhere, by someone. And finally, because I sense a new willingness on the part of many parents and citizens to turn down the decibel level on our political conflicts and start paying attention to what works.
There's an old saying I love: You can't roll up your sleeves and get to work if you're still wringing your hands. So if you, like me, are worrying about our kids; if you, like me, have wondered how we can match our actions to our words, I'd like to share with you some of the convictions I've developed over a lifetime--not only as an advocate and a citizen but as a mother, daughter, sister, and wife--about what our children need from us and what we owe to them.
"IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD"
I chose that old African proverb to title my book because it offers a timeless reminder that children will thrive only if their families thrive and if the whole of society cares enough to provide for them. The sage who first offered that proverb would undoubtedly be bewildered by what constitutes the modern village. In earlier times and places--and until recently in our own culture--the "village" meant an actual geographic place where individuals and families lived and worked together.
For most of us, though, the village doesn't look like that anymore. In fact, it's difficult to paint a picture of the modern village, so frantic and fragmented has much of our culture become. Extended families rarely live in the same town, let alone the same house. In many communities, crime and fear keep us behind locked doors. Where we used to chat with neighbors on stoops and porches, now we watch videos in our darkened living rooms. Instead of strolling down Main Street, we spend hours in automobiles and at anonymous shopping malls. We don't join civic associations, churches, union, political parties, or even bowling leagues the way we used to.
WE CAN'T TURN AWAY FROM THIS BRAVE NEW WORLD
The horizons of the contemporary village extend well beyond the town line. From the moment we are born, we are exposed to vast numbers of other people and influences through the media. Technology connects us to the impersonal global village it has created.
To many, this brave new world seems dehumanizing and inhospitable. It is not surprising, then,, that there is a yearning for the "good old days" as a refuge from the problems of the present. But by turning away, we blind ourselves to the continuing, evolving presence of the village in our lives, and its critical importance for how we live together. The village can no longer be defined as a place on a map, or as a list of people or organizations, but its essence remains the same: it is the network of values and relationships that support and affect our lives.
NEW WAYS OF COMING TOGETHER
One of the honors of being First Lady is the opportunity I have to go out into the world and to see what individuals and communities are doing to help themselves and their children. I have had the privilege of talking with mothers, fathers, grandparents, civic clubs, Scout troops, PTAs, and church groups. From these many conversations, I know Americans everywhere are searching for--and often finding--new ways to support one another.
Even our technology offers us new ways of coming together, through radio talk shows, e-mail and the Internet. The networks of relationships we form and depend on are our modern-day villages, but they reach well beyond the city limits. Many of them necessarily involve the whole nation. They are the basis for our "civil society," a term social scientists use to describe the way we work together for common purposes. Whether we harness their potential for the greater good or allow ourselves to drift into alienation and divisiveness depends on the choices we make now.
CREATING CONSENSUS, RESISTING EXTREMIST RHETORIC
We cannot move forward by looking to the past for easy olutions. Even if a golden age had existed, we could not simply graft it onto today's busier, more impersonal and complicated world. Instead, our challenge is to arrive at a consensus of values and a common vision of what we can do, individually and collectively, to build strong families and communities. Creating that consensus in a democracy depends on seriously considering other points of view, resisting the lure of extremist rhetoric, and balancing individual rights and freedoms with personal responsibility and mutual obligations.
THE TRUE TEST...
of the consensus we build is how well we care for our children. For a child, the village must remain personal. Talking to a baby while changing a diaper, playing airplane to entice a toddler to accept a spoonful of food, tossing a ball back and forth with a teenager, are tasks that cannot be carried out in cyberspace. They require the presence of caring adults who are dedicated to children's growth, nurturing, and well-being.
What we do to participate in and support that network--from the way we care for our own children to the jobs we do, the causes we join, and the kinds of legislation we support--is mirrored every day in the experiences of America's children. We can read our national character most plainly in the result.
MORALITY, AND SELF-INTEREST, AT STAKE
How we care for our own and other people's children isn't only a question of morality; our self-interest is at stake too. No family is immune to the influences of the larger society. No matter what my husband and I do to protect and prepare Chelsea, her future will be affected by how other children are being raised. I don't want her to grow up in an America sharply divided by income, race, or religion. I'd like to minimize the odds of her suffering at the hands of someone who didn't have enough love or discipline, opportunity or responsibility, as a child. I want her to believe, as her father and I did, that the American Dream is within reach of anyone willing to work hard and take responsibility. I want her to live in an America that is still strong and promising to its own citizens and lives up to its image throughout the world as a land of hope and opportunity.
THIS, THEN, IS AN INVITATION TO A JOURNEY...
we can take together, as parents and as citizens of this country, united in the belief that children are what matter--more than the size of our bank accounts or the kinds of cars we drive. As Jackie Kennedy Onassis said, "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much." That goes for each of us, whether or not we are parents--and for all of us as a nation.
More after the flip....
When it comes to education, Clinton has been at the forefront of the battle for quality education for all our children. I will be going through the information we have available in bullet form in 3 categories: Previous bills/legislation, currently pending legislation and plans/proposals.
Clinton serves on the Senate Health/Education/Labor and Pensions committee. She is the senior member of the subcommittee "Children and Families." Clinton was one of the key negotiators of The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), the comprehensive overhaul of the nation's elementary and secondary education policy. Clinton contends that while based on sound principals, the Bush adminstration withheld the resources necessary for the program to fully succeed.
PREVIOUS WORK AND VOTES
Her previous work and votes on educational matters are listed on this page:
http://ontheissues.org/Social/Hillary_Cl inton_Education.htm
A few highlights:
- In word and deed strongly opposes school vouchers, which have been pushed by the GOP. Her reasoning is that vouchers would take money away from public schools.
- Scholarships for teachers who go to urban schools
The first lady offered a menu of proposals for schools. She called for higher salaries for teachers. She restated her support for providing four-year scholarships to teachers who promise to work in inner-city schools. She called for more federal spending to hire teachers and to repair run-down schools. She said she would work to ensure passage of a $29 billion federal bill aimed at repairing and modernizing public schools.
Source: Adam Nagourney, New York Times Mar 12, 2000
- Supports merit pay for entire schools>
I could support merit pay awarded to entire schools rather than individual teachers. I also support pay for performance. This extra pay would be given to teachers who take on additional responsibilities like serving as mentors to other teachers.
Source: New York Times, Page A25 Apr 6, 2000
- Opposes merit pay for individual teachers
Merit pay to individual teachers would discourage teachers from helping troubled students and would create a distorted competition among teachers. I don't think that's a very good way to inspire teachers. We want our best teachers to work with the kids who are the hardest to teach. If teachers are going to be told that the people who look better on a test are the ones who are going to get them rewarded in salary or compensation, why would anyone take on the kids who are harder to teach?
Source: New York Times, Page A25 Apr 6, 2000
Voted YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction.
Vote to reduce the size of the $1.6 trillion tax cut by $448 billion while increasing education spending by $250 billion and providing an increase of approximately $224 billion for debt reduction over 10 years.
Reference: Bill H Con Res 83 ; vote number 2001-69 on Apr 4, 2001
Voted YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors.
Vote to authorize a federal program aimed at reducing class size. The plan would assist states and local education agencies in recruiting, hiring and training 100,000 new teachers, with $2.4 billion in fiscal 2002. This amendment would replace an amendment allowing parents with children at under-performing schools to use public funding for private tutors.
Reference: Bill S1 ; vote number 2001-103 on May 15, 2001
Voted YES on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education.
snip
Reference: Kennedy amendment relative to education funding; Bill S AMDT 177 to S Con Res 18 ; vote number 2005-68 on Mar 17, 2005
Voted YES on $5B for grants to local educational agencies.
Voted YES on $52M for "21st century community learning centers".
To increase appropriations for after-school programs through 21st century community learning centers.
Co-sponsored the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act, which was signed into law on December 3, 2004. Improved access to professional development for all teachers, expanding monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, resolving disputes equitably, improving students' transitions from high school to adulthood, and involving parents more thoroughly in the education of their children.
Prime sponsor for the Ready to Learn Act (Senate Bill 1823, introduced July 19) that proposes offering federal grants for voluntary all-day preschool programs
CURRENTLY PENDING LEGISLATION
Clinton sponsored the following legislation, which is currently going through committee work:
S837, a bill to develop school leaders who can both effectively close the achievement gap and raise achievement for all students.
S1185, a bill to provide grants to states to raise grad rates
S1332, a bill amending the Public Service Health Act to provide
access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs.
S301, a bill to provide assistance to nontraditional students in higher ed.
S511, a bill to give student borrowers basic rights.
S757, a bill promoting voluntary K-12 national standards for math and science.
PLANS/PROPOSALS
1. Clinton has proposed to overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act. The Bush administration has cut the program down to the bone, cutting short $12 Billion of the allocated funds, with schools suffering as a result. Clinton proposes an overhaul of the program and to give it the resources needed for success.
Watch a video with Clinton's comments on 'No Child Left Behind':
2. Pre-K kindergarden for 4-year olds
"Invest $10 Billion in Universal Preschool: Hillary has a detailed plan to provide universal access to high quality pre-school for all four-year olds through a federal-state partnership."
Watch her speech on this program:
Let's recommit ourselves to the idea that every young person in America has the right to a high-quality education, from pre-school all the way through college. I have proposed universal pre-kindergarten for every 4-year-old. If we provide that, the evidence is overwhelming, children will stay in school longer, they will do better, and they'll stay out of trouble. Because you know what? There are states in our country who actually plan how many prison beds they will need by looking at third grade reading scores. They look at the failure rates and they extrapolate how many prison spots they're going to need in 10 to 15 years. Well, I think it is time that we had a real debate about that. And I, for one, would much rather pay for pre-kindergarten than for more prison beds. Let's keep kids on the right track and out of the prison system.
Source: Take Back America 2007 Conference Jun 20, 2007
3. Attracting and supporting more outstanding teachers and principals, and paying them like the professionals they are.
4. Increase in funding and expansion of earlier Head-Start programs
5. Invest $100 Million in a New Public/Private Summer Internship Program
6. Transfer tax cuts from rich & corporations to student aid
We were making progress in narrowing the gap between high tuition and costs and what the average student and his or her family could pay. We ought to be making sure every qualified student can go to college and pursue his or her dreams. And you know, there's a very easy way to do that. All we have to do is cut all the tax breaks for oil companies, pharmaceutical companies and billionaires and put it into student aid.
Source: Annual 2006 Take Back America Conference Jun 14, 2006
7. Expand Early-Intervention Mentoring Programs to Help One Million At-Risk Youth Aspire for College and Job Success
Successful preparation for post-secondary education is increasingly vital for young workers to succeed in our globalized economy. The federal GEAR UP program currently supports innovative partnerships between local school systems, colleges, businesses, and non-profit organizations to provide middle-school students in high risk schools with comprehensive college-readiness services -- including tutoring, mentoring, and college visits. Students remain enrolled in the program as they transition into high school, and receive curricular and academic support at key points in their academic career...Despite promising results, the Bush Administration has consistently tried to eliminate federal funding for such early-intervention mentoring programs. Hillary will double federal support for early intervention mentoring programs over five years, benefiting an additional one million middle-school students in high-risk schools.
8. Support City and Community Plans to Track Drop-Outs and Take Responsibility for Disconnected Youth
Hillary believes it will truly "take a village" to address the overlapping educational, economic and social challenges facing disconnected youth. She will call on mayors and other local officials to convene leaders from the education, business, non-profit, religious and workforce development sectors to develop comprehensive, locally-owned strategies to reengage at-risk youth. The federal government will support this process by awarding $250 million per year in competitive grants to lower-income cities and communities. Communities will be encouraged to build off promising models like creating community youth centers with case managers to track youth and provide support services, and expanding alternative education and Career Academy programs.
9. Promoting programs, like Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, that provide new parents with support and guidance in caring for their children. As First Lady of Arkansas, she helped bring HIPPY to the U.S.
10. Proposed US Public service academy
Focused on government civil service, students would compete for admission and would have their tuition fully paid. In return, they would agree to at least five years of service in the public sector.
CONCLUSION
I believe that Hillary Clinton has shown the inclination and strong committment to build an education system we as a society could be proud of. We need to recommit to our children and teachers again to build a strong society, also known as our "village."
I will leave you with this quote from Clinton from a speech she gave at a teacher's union conference in Iowa last month:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070801/NEWS09/70801037 9/1056
"It's as though our teachers and our children are invisible to this president," she said. "I can make you this promise: They will not be invisible to the next president of the United States."
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