On Education Reform
"Our
children deserve the best education we can provide to them, whether that
learning takes place in a public, private or parochial school. It’s time
to give middle and lower income parents the same right wealthier families
have -- to send their child to the school that best meets their needs. It’s time to conduct a nationwide test of school vouchers. It’s time to
democratize education".
Teach virtues in all
schools: "I walked into a charter school classroom in
Phoenix. On the desk was a children’s book of virtues. The teacher was
teaching the virtue of the month, which happened to be the importance of
telling the truth. We need to inject that in all of our charter schools
and in schools all over America. I would provide the much needed tax
breaks that are necessary to encourage them. I would certainly make them
part of any voucher program, a test voucher program which I would not take
out of education funds".
Q: How can we attract the best and the brightest teachers, given the
current salaries? Senator McCain: "I don’t see why a good teacher
should be paid less money than a bad senator. It’s important that we have
merit pay for teachers, that we have teacher testing, that we do
everything we can to motivate young men and women to enter this
profession. There’s a whole generation that’s retiring. It is
unconscionable that the average salary of a lawyer is $79,000 a year and
the average salary of a teacher is $39,000 a year"
Tax-funded vouchers for private schools or charter
schools
McCain’s platform calls for a school voucher program that would give
tax money to middle- and lower-income families to send their children to
private schools. And he praised charter schools - publicly funded schools
that often serve a specialized curriculum and operate free from many
government mandates. He believes in letting parents, educators, and
local communities make the important decisions about our children’s
education
Voted YES on $75M for abstinence education.
Vote to retain a provision of the Budget Act that funds abstinence
education to help reduce teenage pregnancy, using $75 million of the
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program.
Voted YES on requiring schools to allow voluntary
prayer.
Cut off federal funds to school districts that deny students their
right to constitutionally protected voluntary prayer.
Voted YES on declaring that memorial prayers and
religious symbols at schools
Vote to declare that erecting religious symbols and praying on public
school campuses as part of a memorial service does not violate the First
Amendment to the Constitution, and to provide legal assistance to any
government entity defending such a case.
Vouchers for any schools; more charter schools
Source: Project Vote Smart
Require state standards, regular assessments, and
sanctions.
McCain adopted the Republican Main Street Partnership agenda item:
- Require states to implement high standards of achievement in core
subject areas, such as reading, math, writing, and science, for all
students.
- Require states to demonstrate success in raising the performance of
all students -- from those who score below basic to those who are
already proficient -- and narrowing the gap between disadvantaged
students and their more advantaged peers.
- Establish a meaningful system of rewards for schools that
significantly increase student achievement and sanctions for those that
fail.
More block grants; more teacher testing; more prayer
McCain supports sanctity of human life
Voted YES on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus
during other crime.
Bill would make it a criminal offense to harm or kill a fetus during
the commission of a violent crime. The measure would set criminal
penalties, the same as those that would apply if harm or death happened to
the pregnant woman, for those who harm a fetus. It is not required that
the individual have prior knowledge of the pregnancy or intent to harm the
fetus. This bill prohibits the death penalty from being imposed for such
an offense. The bill states that its provisions should not be interpreted
to apply a woman's actions with respect to her pregnancy.
Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions except for
maternal life.
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Vote to pass a bill banning a
medical procedure, which is commonly known as "partial-birth" abortion.
Those who performed this procedure would then face fines and up to two
years in prison, the women to whom this procedure is performed on are not
held criminally liable. This bill would make the exception for cases in
which a women's life is in danger, not for cases where a women's health is
in danger.
Voted YES on maintaining ban on Military Base
Abortions.
Vote on a motion to table [kill] an amendment that would repeal the ban
on privately funded abortions at overseas military facilities.
Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions.
This legislation, if enacted, would ban the abortion procedure in which
the physician partially delivers the fetus before completing the abortion.
McCain supports regaining control of the budget and reducing government spending
McCain supports the following
principles to address crime:
Our thanks to On The Issues for most of the materials
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