Educated vote
Now that “Super Tuesday” is officially behind us, the Presidential primary season is in full swing and you have a decision to make. First and foremost, if you’re eligible to vote and are not registered go ahead and do your research! One of the hot topics during this Presidential election is education. Chances are everyone reading this knows at least one high school dropout. The ones that are still in our classrooms aren’t doing a whole lot better, as schools continue to battle the challenge of thin resources, growing class sizes – not to mention testing requirements.
This past November, a $151 billion bill that would have benefited Head Start programs, reading and math instruction was vetoed. No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which many parents, teachers, students and politicians feel falls short of its name, has been said to use old-fashioned measures to evaluate schools, while failing to provide the the funds to improve those that fall schools behind. I’ll be honest, while interning in D.C. during college, I lobbied for NCLB. The idea of a federal program aiming to improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools by making states, school districts and schools accountable for poor performance, while providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children would attend seemed like a wonderful plan to me. Since the bill, was passed in 2002, I have heard mostly negative feedback about the bill which, I suppose, proves how important it is to research and educate oneself before backing a candidate, a party or a policy issue. When it comes down to our education system, it’s important that we be educated. Supporting those in school and the ones that teach them will dictate our future. Don’t just make an educated guess during the upcoming elections, get to know the candidates and the issues.
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The No Child Left Behind program requires states to implement the Bill, but does not provide any funds. Thus, the states are left to find money out of very scarce state funds.
Here are two websites to take a quiz to see how you match you up with a candidate & the issues.
However, as most “tests” and “programs” go, there is not much depth sought out. In other words, when you get to know a person, there are so many levels, layers, and aspects that you must discover before you can say that you “truly know them.” So my is, take these quizzes with a grain of salt and know that it only tests your first layer of issues & positions with these candidates. GOOD LUCK! 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm
Does your vote matter? I have overheard many people write off the primaries in North Carolina as insignificant. The democratic primary is not until May 6, 2008 in NC, so by that time why should we even participate? Well, if the close election between Obama and Clinton continues, states that have historically not played an important role in the delegate count will have a very significant impact on the democratic candidate. NC has 134 delegates and that could be the difference in this election. If the race continues neck to neck, then Puerto Rico, with 63 delegates, might become the tie breaker!
Implications for the impact of the Latino vote in this election are also quite significant. If interested in this topic, please com to an event at Duke to discuss:
http://duke.facebook.com/event.php?eid=20636030116&ref=mf
Interesting blog all the way ’round, Jess. But my libertarian side felt compelled to respond to this post in particular and say the federal government should get out of education and leave it solely to the states to keep their tax money and do what’s best for their own students.
OK. I’m done. Love ya.
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the candidate issue page is great!!!