RA Action:

News from the NEA Annual Meeting

July 2, 2007

2008 Presidential Primary Candidates

Guide to each candidate's position on ESEA

The table below shows each candidate's position on a particular aspect of No Child Left Behind/ESEA. A check in the columns at right indicates support for a particular position.

The table below is based upon the candidates' responses to NEA's 2008 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire. The full questionnaire — along with the candidate's recorded interview with President Weaver, public record, and overall support of public education — are weighed by NEA's PAC Council, a 67-member body that includes the President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer of NEA, each state affiliate ­president, representatives of NEA's Board of Directors, and other representatives of NEA's official caucuses, to determine candidate recommendations for both the primary and general election.

During the primary season, the PAC council may recommend a single candidate, or multiple "acceptable" candidates, for their party's nomination. The primary recommendation is forwarded to the NEA Board of Directors for its approval. During the primary season, NEA cannot expend resources in any state, unless the state Association concurs with one, several, or all of the acceptable candidates. For the general election, the Representative Assembly must approve the PAC Council recommendation for a presidential candidate.

After the candidates speak at the RA, visit the Legislative Action Center to e-mail them and say what you liked about their positions.

ESEA Questions	Biden	Clinton	Dodd	Edwards	Kucinich	Obama	Richardson	Huckabee
Multiple measures for student progress
Measure student growth over time
Reduce class size						1		X
School modernization								X
Improve educator quality*								X
Family and community involvement in schools								X
Increased funding in ESEA								2
Fully fund IDEA								3

^* Improve educator quality by supporting professional development, national board certification, high-quality mentoring programs, and providing financial incentives to attract and retain high-quality teachers in hard-to-staff schools.
¹ Supports if class size is an effective education intervention.
² The term "substantial" is too vague for me to support.
³ I support increased funding, but can't commit to "fully funding" at this time.