Education reform

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain agree on one thing when it comes to the American education system: It needs to be renovated.

Obama's plan to combat rising tuition includes a proposal to give all college students who agree to complete 100 hours of community service a $4,000 annual tax credit to cover tuition, while McCain calls for simplifying the financial aid system and improving parents' access to university information, while imposing higher integrity standards for the private loan sector.

Obama also plans to get rid of the FAFSA application and instead allow parents and students to use their tax returns to apply for aid. He also plans to increase the Pell Grant from the present limit of $4,050 to $5,100.

James Martinez, a Parent Teacher Association spokesman for the national group, said that schools are under-funded and ensuring the nation's schools perform well is not only an important domestic issue, but will have significant economic impact as well.

"Education ties directly into our economy and global economy," Martinez said. "The more children that drop out of high school, the fewer people that to go college, the fewer tax payers we have."

Both candidates want to reform the No Child Left Behind act and emphasize the need for the availability of high quality education. Obama has said the education problem lies in underfunding and poor organization, while McCain blames NCLB's shortfalls on poor organization.

To fix NCLB, McCain advocates greater parental choice for their children's education, including school vouchers. School vouchers would allocate public funding to families who would like to send their children to private schools, but who could not afford a private school education otherwise.

However, the vouchers are a point of contention for the education community.

"We are opposed to vouchers because they don't do anything to improve the public school system," National Education Association spokesperson and education policy expert Donna Harris-Aiken said. "[Vouchers] don't help the entire community; they usually take money away from the public school system."

Obama's plan does not include private school vouchers and has endorsement from both the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest education unions, and the National Education Association, the largest professional organization in the nation, both of which are opposed to private school vouchers.

American Federation of Teachers spokeswoman Janet Bass said her group chose to endorse Obama because he had a better grasp on what is wrong with the American education system and is better prepared to tackle the issues facing public education.

"We and Obama believe in public school choice. We don't believe in sending tax payer money to private schools," American Federation of Teachers spokeswoman Janet Bass said.

Despite Obama's support, McCain sites the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Plan as a potential model for a national private school voucher system. The D.C. plan provides up to $7,500 for students at or below 185 percent of the national poverty line for them to attend a private school in the Washington, D.C., area. Currently, the program serves more than 1,900 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education's website.