where they stand
Where the candidates stand on education | |||||
| President George W. Bush, Republican | Sen. John Kerry, Democrat | Terry Bergeson, non-partisan candidate for superintendent of public instruction | Judith Billings, non-partisan candidate for superintendent of public instruction | Christine Gregoire, Democrat for governor | Dino Rossi, Republican for governor |
| Proposed the No Child Left Behind Act, a new federal law requiring standardized testing of all students and setting a goal of making every student proficient in reading and math by 2014. Wants to expand testing in high schools as part of effort to improve high school education, and push early literacy programs. Says he will increase funding for school drug testing. | Create a national education trust fund to ensure that when Congress passes education laws there is money to pay for implementing them. Would allow the federal government to issue bonds to repair and modernize schools. Proposes offering after-school programs until 6 p.m. for 3.5 million children. | Make school more relevant to students and invest in learning strategies that have proven to work, particularly in reading and mathematics. The WASL tests have been thoughtfully developed and are recognized nationally. While some are concerned about the test, a bigger issue is how results are used. We must work with the federal government to modify the No Child Left Behind Act, which uses WASL results in a manner not intended. | Beyond creating a broad curriculum and speaking to each child’s individual skills, we need to improve our pre-kindergarten education. I support using the WASL as just one of several ways students can demonstrate competency. We must have equally available substantive alternative indicators of achievement, i.e., portfolios of work, cumulative grade average, SAT/ACT scores, a meaningful community project, etc. | Make early childhood education a priority, improve the WASL, modernize the funding system and revise levy passage requirements. Pay teachers more and prepare colleges for a predicted surge in freshmen and transfers. | Provide adequate funding and strengthen accountability standards. Give school districts the flexibility and support they need to be successful. |