At the 2012 Republican National Convention, the United
States Republican Party voted to ratify their current platform. The platform’s
positions on education break down into five different sections: Education: A
Chance for Every Child; Attaining Academic Excellence for All; Consumer Choice
in Education; Improving our Nation’s Classrooms; and Addressing Rising College
Costs.
The GOP platform on education focuses its priorities on giving states, communities and parents jurisdiction over public education. The platform opposes centralization of the public school system and instead emphasizes the variety of choices available to students. Through charter schools, college lab schools, virtual schools, vouchers, tax credits and other schooling options, the GOP platform commends variety. In addition, the platform demonstrates a belief that accountability is the primary necessity in public school reform as opposed to relying on increased funding.
A central tenant of the GOP platform, to which CEC will be paying very close attention, is the idea of block grants to schools and funding through IDEA and Title I which will follow students regardless of which school they attend. The GOP platform also calls for removal of the qualification of “Highly Qualified” as a designation which relies solely on degree qualifications, and replacing it with designations which encompass classroom successes as well.
For more information on the GOP platform on education, please click here.
To view CEC’s positions on Charter Schools and Vouchers, please use the links provided. To read CEC's PI story on the DNC 2012 Platform, please click here.
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