Hey
Iowa, Only One Candidate Links Education With War Spending
By
Heather Wokusch
03 January,
2008
Countercurrents.org
"If
we cut the Pentagon budget 15%, $75 billion will go into a universal
pre-kindergarten program so our children ages 3, 4 and 5 will have access
to full-time day care and more money would go into elementary and secondary
education. Our college-age students need to know that with a Kucinich
administration they're guaranteed a two- or four-year college, tuition
free, and it'll be paid for by the government investing in our young
people. That's the kind of approach I'll take to education." -
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Oct 30, 2007, Democratic
debate at Drexel University
In a Gallup poll released on
December 10 2007, Education scored a respectable #12 for the issues
determining Americans' choice of president in 2008. Education even scored
above Terrorism, Environmental Issues, Employment Issues and World Peace.
So it's no
wonder that Democratic presidential candidates have aggressively criticized
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Bush administration's disastrous excuse
for an education policy.
Obama said
the law was "demoralizing our teachers" and Clinton promised
to "do everything I can as senator, but if we don't get it done,
then as president, to end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left
Behind." Of the law's emphasis on standardized testing, Edwards
told Iowans, "You don't make a hog fatter by weighing it."
But only
one presidential candidate has connected the dots from Baghdad to our
nation's classrooms: Dennis Kucinich. In calling for 15% of the Pentagon's
budget to fund education instead, Kucinich stands alone in promising
books, not Army boots, to the nation's youth.
Doing the
math on Bush's education disaster is easy. Opinions may differ about
the merits of NCLB, but on one point there is little disagreement -
it hasn't been funded properly.
Soon after
signing NCLB into law in early January 2002, Bush released his 2003
education budget which not only cut 40 educational programs but also
came up short on funding his own program.
As of 2004,
Bush had allocated NCLB $27 billion less than Congress authorized, with
programs for disadvantaged students underfunded by a full $7.2 billion.
Things just got worse from there.
For FY 2005,
Bush's budget underfunded NCLB by $9.4 billion, and other crucial partner
programs were cut altogether. Among those on the 2005 chopping block:
Even Start (reading program for poor families), Javits Gifted and Talented
Program (for gifted students who are minorities, disabled or who speak
limited English), Dropout Prevention, Foreign Language Assistance, and
Arts in Education. All in all, the Bush administration's 2005 budget
proposed cutting $1.4 billion from the education budget and axing 38
federal education programs.
Bush's proposed
FY 2006 budget was even more extreme, underfunding NCLB by a full $12
billion, or roughly 33% of its authorized amount. Also slashed were
programs for disadvantaged students and those with special needs.
The FY 2007
proposed budget similarly underfunded NCLB by over $15 billion and eliminated
numerous critical educational programs.
Factoring
in the $14.8 billion underfunding slated for 2008 in Bush's budget request,
NCLB is left with a 2001-2008 cumulative funding gap of $70.7 billion.
How can schools
be held accountable for failing to reach NCLB goals if the federal government
isn't held accountable for meeting its funding promises?
Meanwhile,
the states have faced a one-two budgetary punch as the weak economy
has driven down tax revenues yet simultaneously increased demand for
social services. All of this has led to across-the-board cuts in education,
combined with increased pressure to shell out money on standardized
tests.
Doesn't help
that the costs for war have simultaneously skyrocketed. Just last week,
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) estimated that the US presence in Iraq was
costing almost $15 billion per month. 15 billion dollars per month.
Connecting
the dots here is simple, but most Democratic candidates are avoiding
the elephant in the classroom. They criticize NCLB and promise more
educational funding but don't say where that money will come from.
Voters know
better. In the December 2007 Gallup poll, respondents listed the War
in Iraq as the most important issue determining Americans' choice of
president in 2008. It's worth noting that Kucinich is the only Democratic
Presidential candidate who voted against the Iraq war authorization
in 2002 and every war-funding measure since then.
He also is
the only Democratic Presidential candidate directly linking war spending
to education funding.
The Des Moines
Register (which used a ridiculous technicality to exclude Kucinich from
their presidential debates) is predicting that first-time voters could
determine the winner of Thursday's Iowa Democratic caucus.
Obama is
aiming for younger caucus-goers.
Clinton is
targeting women.
Both demographic
groups should take another look at Kucinich, and his plan to put the
nation's youth in college, not in Baghdad.
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