Obama had campaigned on rising above partisanship and working with Republicans to find common ground on important policy matters. For the most part, that promise has gone unfulfilled. But on education, Democrats and Republicans do share some common ground – and Obama’s Race to the Top has won bipartisan support.
The initiative is a competition for federal education dollars that rewards states that emphasize accountability and data-driven measurement of teacher performance, not seniority.
Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on every aspect of education policy. Obama opposes private-school vouchers for inner-city children, but he does support charter schools. He also has protected student loan programs from proposed cuts, and enacted student loan reform.
Now, student loans are originated by the federal government, not private lenders, saving money by eliminating the middle man. For now, it’s the government that is seeing the savings, but eventually, students will enjoy better repayment terms.
As Obama reaches out to young voters and parents of school-aged children, he will tout “investment in education” early and often.
