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2016 presidential candidates on education

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

See what the 2016 candidates and their respective party platforms said about education below.

Interested in reading more about the 2016 candidates' stances on issues related to education?
Ballotpedia also covered what the candidates said about taxes, spending, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and transgender restroom access.

OVERVIEW OF CANDIDATE POSITIONS
  • Hillary Clinton opposed connecting teacher evaluations and pay to test outcomes, supported universal preschool and higher teacher pay, and called for student loan reform.
  • Donald Trump supported returning education policy to the states and doing away with Common Core education standards.
  • Jill Stein supported a "student bailout" to cancel student loan debt, advocated for tuition-free education, and opposed high-stakes testing and the privatization of public schools.
  • Gary Johnson said that states should control public education and encouraged competition between schools to drive improvement in public education.

    • Democratic ticket

    Democratic Party Hillary Clinton

    caption
    • On July 6, 2016, Hillary Clinton introduced a new student loan reform policy to decrease the indebtedness of college graduates. To be implemented over five years, students from families with a combined income of $125,000 or less would be able to attend in-state public colleges without paying tuition. For families earning less $85,000, the plan would be effective immediately. Graduates would also be able to defer their loans after graduation for three months.[1][2]
    • On July 5, 2016, Clinton addressed members of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union. In the speech, she said, “If I am fortunate enough to be elected president, educators will have a partner in the White House, and you’ll always have a seat at the table.” She was cheered for “calling for less standardized testing, more support for vulnerable children and more respect and pay for public school educators,” but members of the audience booed when she discussed her support for charter schools. Clinton said, “When schools get it right, whether they’re traditional public schools or public charter schools, let’s figure out what’s working and share it with schools across America. Rather than starting from ideology, let’s start from what’s best for our kids.”[3]
    • In the transcript of Clinton’s roundtable with the American Federation of Teachers on November 9, 2015, Clinton stated her opposition to connecting teacher evaluation and pay to test outcomes. She also said that charter schools should be “supplementary, not a substitute” for excellent public schools.[4]
    • During a town hall meeting on November 7, 2015, Clinton expressed her support for public schools and discussed the role of charter schools. She said, “I have for many years now, about 30 years, supported the idea of charter schools, but not as a substitute for the public schools, but as a supplement for the public schools. And what I have worked on through my work with the Children’s Defense Fund and my work on education in Arkansas and through my time as first lady and senator is to continue to say charter schools can have a purpose, but you know there are good charter schools and there are bad charter schools, just like there are good public schools and bad public schools. But the original idea, Roland, behind charter schools was to learn what worked and then apply them in the public schools. And here’s a couple of problems. Most charter schools — I don’t want to say every one — but most charter schools, they don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them. And so the public schools are often in a no-win situation, because they do, thankfully, take everybody, and then they don’t get the resources or the help and support that they need to be able to take care of every child’s education. So I want parents to be able to exercise choice within the public school system — not outside of it — but within it because I am still a firm believer that the public school system is one of the real pillars of our democracy and it is a path for opportunity.”[5]
    • In a statement released on October 24, 2015, Clinton voiced support for the Obama administration’s plan to eliminate unnecessary standardized testing. She wrote, “While testing can provide communities with full information about how our students are doing and help us determine whether we have achievement gaps, we can and must do better. We should be ruthless in looking at tests and eliminating them if they do not actually help us move our kids forward.”[6]
    • Clinton announced her $350 billion plan for higher education reform on August 10, 2015.[8][9] Called the "New College Compact," the plan would institute the following changes to higher education financing:
    • Students would not have to take out a student loan to pay for tuition, books, or fees at four-year public colleges. Community college students would receive free tuition.[10]
    • Families would be expected to make "an affordable and realistic family contribution."[10]
    • States would have to maintain their current level of higher education funding. The federal government would also provide additional funding and "never again profit off student loans for college students."[10]
    • Colleges would be expected to "control their costs" and work to prevent "abusive practices that burden students with debt without value."[10]
    • Graduates with existing student loan debt would be able to refinance their loans and "enroll in a simplified income based repayment program so that borrowers never have to pay more than 10 percent of what they make."[10]
    • Clinton announced a service element of her higher education reform policy on August 20, 2015. The plan would see AmeriCorps expanded to 250,000 members, with greater scholarship awards for AmeriCorps volunteers who commit to three years of public service.[11]
    • In October 2014, Clinton advocated making college more affordable and "praised President Obama for increasing federal Pell grants by $1,000," according to Fox News. She said, "Higher education shouldn’t be a privilege for those able to afford it. It should be an opportunity widely available for anybody with the talent, determination and ambition."[12]
    • In March 2007, Clinton criticized the No Child Left Behind Act. She said, "While the children are getting good at filling in all those little bubbles, what exactly are they really learning? How much creativity are we losing? How much of our children's passion is being killed?" According to the Concord Monitor, Clinton "called for universal preschool, higher teacher salaries and schools that emphasize self-discipline and respect, not just test scores. Clinton also criticized what she described as the outsourcing of tutoring and other services to private companies."[13]
    • In 2007, the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Clinton's bid for president.[14]

    Democratic Party Tim Kaine

    caption
    • During his first official speech as Hillary Clinton's running mate, Kaine described making tough decisions while serving as governor of Virginia during the "deepest recession since the 1930s.” Kaine said, “But that did not stop us from expanding early childhood education, from building more classrooms and facilities on our college campuses so that more can go to school – because we knew that education was a key to everything we wanted to achieve as a state and it is the key to everything we want to achieve as a nation.”[18]
    • As governor of Virginia and a U.S. senator, Kaine promoted career and technical education programs and apprenticeships.[19]
    • Kaine was a proponent of early childhood education. As governor of Virginia, he increased pre-kindergarten enrollment by nearly 40 percent. In the Senate, Kaine introduced a bill to expand access to early learning programs.[18]

    Republican ticket

    Republican Party Donald Trump

    caption
    • Trump laid out a student loan repayment plan in a speech in Ohio on October 13, 2016. He said, “We would cap repayment for an affordable portion of the borrower’s income, 12.5 percent, we’d cap it. That gives you a lot to play with and a lot to do. And if borrowers work hard and make their full payments for 15 years, we’ll let them get on with their lives. They just go ahead and they get on with their lives. … Students should not be asked to pay more on the debt than they can afford. And the debt should not be an albatross around their necks for the rest of their lives.”[20]
    • Trump called school choice the “new civil rights issue of our time” at a campaign event in Virginia on September 24, 2016. He said, “Too many African Americans have been left behind and trapped in poverty. I will fight to make sure every single African American child in this country is fully included in the American dream. That includes the new civil rights issue of our time: School choice.”[21]
    • On September 8, 2016, Trump delivered a speech on education policy in Ohio. He said, “As your president I will be the nation's biggest cheerleader for school choice. I understand many stale old politicians will resist, but it's time for our country to start thinking big and correct once again.” He proposed allocating $20 billion towards school choice policies. In his speech in Ohio, Trump also commented on the issue of merit pay for teachers, saying, “I will also support merit pay for teachers so that we reward our best teachers instead of the failed tenure system that rewards bad teachers and punishes the good ones.”[22]
    • Trump gave a speech at the American Legion national convention in Ohio on September 1, 2016, where he discussed his goal of promoting patriotism in U.S. schools. Trump said, “Together, we are going to work on so many shared goals. But I want to begin by discussing one goal that I know is so important to all of you: promoting American pride and patriotism in America’s schools. In a Trump Administration, I plan to work directly with the American Legion to uphold our common values and to help ensure they are taught to America’s children. We want our kids to learn the incredible achievements of America’s history, its institutions, and its heroes. We will stop apologizing for America, and we will start celebrating America. We will be united by our common culture, values and principles – becoming One American Nation. One country, under one constitution, saluting one American Flag. The flag all of you helped to protect and preserve. That flag deserves respect, and I will work with American Legion to help to strengthen respect for our flag – and, by the way, we want young Americans to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”[23]

    Republican Party Mike Pence

    caption
    • In 2014, Mike Pence signed HB 1003, which, among other things, "Provides for grants to eligible school corporations and charter schools to support cooperative arrangements with businesses for training students."[26]
    • In 2014, Pence signed SB 91, which repealed Common Core standards in Indiana and instituted "Indiana college and career readiness educational standards."[27]



    Green ticket

    Green Party Jill Stein

    Jill-Stein-circle.png
    • A video recorded earlier in 2016 of Jill Stein discussing technology and education gained renewed attention on August 1, 2016, because of comments she had made about the safety of wireless technology. “We should not be subjecting kids’ brains especially to that. And we don’t follow that issue in this country, but in Europe where they do, they have good precautions around wireless—maybe not good enough, because it’s very hard to study this stuff. We make guinea pigs out of whole populations and then we discover how many die. And this is like the paradigm for how public health works in this country and it’s outrageous, you know,” she said.[29]
    • In an interview on the Fox Business Network, Jill Stein detailed her proposal for a student bailout by having the Federal Reserve cancel the debt. She said it would be tax-free and would cost less than the bank bailout. “Actually, if you count the quantitative easing for the bankers, that was an additional $4.5 trillion, which is far more than we need for student debt which is $1.3 trillion,” she said.[30]
    • On July 5, 2016, Jill Stein released the web video, “Abolish Student Debt.” In the ad, Stein says, “We will bail out millennials and others in student debt. We did it for the crooks on Wall Street – it’s about time to do it for the millennials and the generation held hostage in debt.”[31]
    • On May 31, 2016, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Jill Stein discussed her plans to eliminate student debt. Stein said, “We are the only campaign that will cancel student debt and bail out [those with student loans] like Obama did for Wall Street. Isn't it about time we bailed out the young people? Therein is how we move forward, because that's 43 million people who don't need to be persuaded, they just need to learn that they have an option to come out and cancel their debt by voting Green. That could actually take over the election: 43 million is a winning plurality in the presidential race. This is mainly to say that the potential for our campaign can be a real positive force. Potentially even a dominating force if the generation in debt gets on to this.”[32]
    • Jill Stein expressed solidarity with the Million Student March Against Racism and Student Debt in an email on April 13, 2016. “I’m supporting the Million Student March Against Racism and Student Debt, taking place at campuses across the country, because burdening young people with crushing debt holds back not only their personal potential, but the potential of our entire society,” she wrote.[33]
    • During a July 6, 2015, phone interview conducted by On The Issues, Stein was asked about Common Core and national education standards and testing. She said, "In general, high stakes testing is more than counterproductive--it is destructive. It is used as a political tool against teachers--targeting low-income and people of color. Our educational system should target lifetime learning--with full and equitable funding; and eliminating disparities by race. Testing for diagnostic purposes as part of standards [is ok, but we should have] curriculum written by teachers--not by corporate contractors."[34]
    • On her 2016 presidential campaign website, Stein advocated for education as a right: "Abolish student debt to free a generation of Americans from debt servitude. Guarantee tuition-free, world-class public education from pre-school through university. End high stakes testing and public school privatization."[35]
    • In a November 29, 2015, interview with The Harvard Crimson, Jill Stein discussed her proposal to make “all public colleges free” and erase “all existing student debt.” She said, “Forty million young people are indentured servants without much hope of getting out of debt. We have a generation of hopeless young people who cannot get their way out of debt, who don’t have jobs, and who are watching the climate collapse.”[36]
    • Stein joined the Boston-area “Million Student March” on November 12, 2015, to demonstrate for the right to a free college education.[37]
    • In an interview with teleSUR published November 3, 2015, Stein said she would “abolish student debt, which can be done with the stroke of a pen and is really critical for liberating an entire generation of youth who are essentially indentured servants right now with no hope of change on the horizon” in her first 100 days of office if elected president.[38]
    • In a January 2012 interview with Steve Horn of Truth Out, Stein said, "We will provide tuition-free higher education, since it's comparable to a high school education in the 20th century - you need a higher education degree in the 21st century economy and it should be provided as a basic right."[39]

    Green Party Ajamu Baraka

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    • Baraka tweeted about education and tuition several times on October 23, 2016. He wrote, "Why should Wall Street bankers be excused of their waste, fraud & abuse but college students are subjected to a life of debt?"[42] He also tweeted, "Everyone should have the right to a tuition-free, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college."[43]
    • Baraka described education as a basic human right. On October 12, 2016, he wrote, "Education should be a process that allows every human being to fully develop their human capacities."[44] On October 11 he tweeted, "We have learned from the G.I. Bill that higher education pays for itself. Education is not a privilege but a right."[45] He wrote, "Education as a human right is not some pie-in-the-sky idea that we cannot achieve. A #GreenNewDeal will abolish student debt & end servitude," on October 6, 2016.[46]
    • Read more about Ajamu Baraka.

    Libertarian ticket

    Libertarian Party Gary Johnson

    Gary-Johnson-(New Mexico)-circle.png
    • On his campaign website, Johnson called for giving more control over education to state and local government and for eliminating the Department of Education. He said, "Most importantly, Governor Johnson believes that state and local governments should have more control over education policy. Decisions that affect our children should be made closer to home, not by bureaucrats and politicians in Washington, D.C. That is why he believes we should eliminate the federal Department of Education. Common Core and other attempts to impose national standards and requirements on local schools are costly, overly bureaucratic, and actually compromise our ability to provide our children with a good education."[47]
    • In 2012, Gary Johnson supported abolishing the Department of Education. He said, "I don't think people recognize that the the [sic] Department of Education was established in 1979 under Jimmy Carter. So if you measure educational performance since 1979 there is nothing to suggest that the federal government has added any value. The federal government gives eleven cents out of every school dollar that every state spends but it comes with 16 cents of strings attached, and I found this as governor of New Mexico. ... There is so much education that is being distorted by Washington. Give it up to the states and in my opinion there will be some fabulous successes that will be emulated."[48]
    • In his 2012 book, Seven Principles of Good Government, Johnson recommended giving each student in New Mexico a $3,500 voucher for whichever school he or she chose to attend. "I realized that many people believed vouchers take money away from the public school system. But my plan would have increased the per capita funding for kids who remained in public schools because we were actually spending about $5,500/child—so each public school district would get an extra $2,000 for each student who opted out," Johnson explained.[49]
      • Johnson also proposed more competition between schools, writing, "I believe that we should treat K-12 education more like higher education. The reason higher education in the US is the best in the world is because these institutions compete with each other for tuition dollars. We need that same competition in public education."[50]
      • One area for public education reform Johnson cited in this book was testing standards. He wrote, "In order to improve schools, we have to measure and grade schools. And the purpose here isn't to denounce the schools but to say, 'Here's where we're at. What do we need to do to get better next year?' We need to compare one school to another when it comes to test scores in the various categories. We also need to be able to look at one school from one year to the next, and have the results put out in a format that is easy to read and easy to understand."[51]
    • Read more of Gary Johnson's public statements on 2016 campaign issues.

    Libertarian Party Bill Weld

    William-Weld-circle.png
    • In 1993, while serving as governor of Massachusetts, Weld signed a law to overhaul the state's education system. A key element of the 1993 law was the requirement that all students complete the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests.[53]
    • In 2010, Weld criticized proposed math and English curriculum changes and said that if implemented, the elimination of the math and English MCAS tests would follow. He told The Associated Press that adopting national standards in education would be "a retrograde step" for public school students in Massachusetts.[53]
    • "It would be madness to eliminate the MCAS test," Weld said in a July 19, 2010, telephone interview. "A lot of blood was spilled, partly during my regime and moreso when (Paul) Cellucci was governor, to preserve the MCAS."[53]
    • Weld also said that the state's education curriculum "is a competitive advantage Massachusetts has. If you say, 'Let's have one national standard,' then we're the same as everyone else. That makes no sense to me."[53]
    • Read more about Bill Weld.

    Withdrawn candidates

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    Recent news

    The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 2016 presidential candidates education. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

    2016 presidential candidates on education - Google News

    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The Washington Post, "Clinton to propose 3-month hiatus for repayment of student loans," July 5, 2016
    2. ↑ Hillary for America, "How much would Hillary Clinton’s debt-free college plan save you (even if you've already graduated)?" July 6, 2016
    3. ↑ The Washington Post, "Teachers union cheers Clinton for stance on standardized testing and pay, but boos her embrace of charters," July 5, 2016
    4. ↑ Vox, "Hillary Clinton is planning a huge break with Obama on education," November 16, 2015
    5. ↑ The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton: Most charter schools ‘don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them,'" November 8, 2015
    6. ↑ International Business Times, "Hillary Clinton Endorses Obama's Reductions In School Testing Wrought By No Child Left Behind, Education Law She Voted For," October 24, 2015
    7. ↑ CNN, "Top teachers union endorses Hillary Clinton," October 3, 2015
    8. ↑ The Briefing, "College Compact: Costs Won’t Be a Barrier," accessed November 23, 2015
    9. ↑ Politico, "Hillary Clinton's $350 billion plan to kill college debt," August 10, 2015
    10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Hillary for America, "Hillary Clinton’s New College Compact," accessed August 10, 2015
    11. ↑ CBS News, "Hillary Clinton's newest college proposal encourages public service," August 20, 2015
    12. ↑ Fox News, "Hillary Clinton touts affordable higher education in $225G Las Vegas speech," accessed February 2, 2015
    13. ↑ Concord Monitor, "Clinton assails 'No Child' in NEA speech," accessed February 2, 2015
    14. ↑ GWU.edu, "Hillary Clinton's Statement On The AFT's Endorsement," accessed February 2, 2015
    15. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1," accessed February 2, 2015
    16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    17. ↑ Democratic Party, "The 2016 Democratic Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 U.S. News, "Tim Kaine's Hefty Education Resume," July 25, 2016
    19. ↑ Forbes, "Tim Kaine On Education: 7 Things The Vice Presidential Candidate Wants You To Know," July 24, 2016
    20. ↑ The Washington Post, "Trump just laid out a pretty radical student debt plan," October 13, 2016
    21. ↑ LA Times, "Donald Trump calls school choice 'new civil rights issue' of our time," September 24, 2016
    22. ↑ US News, "Donald Trump Goes All In on School Choice," September 8, 2016
    23. ↑ Politico, "Full text: Donald Trump's speech to the American Legion," September 6, 2016
    24. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Donald Trump Vows to Slash Funding for Education, EPA," January 11, 2016
    25. ↑ Republican Party, "The 2016 Republican Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    26. ↑ Indiana.gov, "HB 1003," accessed April 2, 2015
    27. ↑ Indiana.gov, "SB 91," accessed April 2, 2015
    28. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1 - No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," accessed April 2, 2015
    29. ↑ Gizmodo, "Now Jill Stein Thinks Wi-Fi Might Be Hurting Kids," August 1, 2016
    30. ↑ Fox Business Network, "Green Party's Jill Stein on Tax-Free Student Loan Bailout," July 7, 2016
    31. ↑ I Agree To See, "New Jill Stein Ad Takes Bernie Sanders’ Student Loan Proposal One Step Further," July 5, 2016
    32. ↑ Rolling Stone, "Green Party's Jill Stein on Why Bernie Sanders Should Go Third-Party," May 31, 2016
    33. ↑ Jill 2016, "End Student Debt & Make Higher Education Free," accessed April 14, 2016
    34. ↑ On The Issues, "Phone Interview with 2016 Presidential Candidate Jill Stein," July 6, 2015
    35. ↑ Jill Stein for President, "My Plan," accessed February 16, 2016
    36. ↑ The Harvard Crimson, "Harvard Grad Jill Stein Faces Uphill Battle for Presidency," November 29, 2015
    37. ↑ ThinkProgress, "What You Need To Know About The Huge Student Protest Sweeping The Country Today," November 12, 2015
    38. ↑ teleSUR, "US Presidential Candidate Jill Stein: I Want to Be President to Save the World," November 3, 2015
    39. ↑ Truthout, "The Party of Our Discontent? An Interview With Green Party Candidate Jill Stein," January 29, 2012
    40. ↑ Jill Stein for President, "Issues," accessed July 6, 2015
    41. ↑ Green Party, "The 2016 Green Party Platform on Social Justice," accessed August 23, 2016
    42. ↑ Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 23, 2016
    43. ↑ Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 23, 2016
    44. ↑ Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 12, 2016
    45. ↑ Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 11, 2016
    46. ↑ Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 12, 2016
    47. ↑ JohnsonWeld, "Education," accessed September 1, 2016
    48. ↑ iSideWith, "Interview with Gary Johnson," accessed January 9, 2016
    49. ↑ Johnson, Gary. (2012). Seven Principles of Good Government. Aberdeen: Silver Lake Publishing. (pages 68-69)
    50. ↑ Johnson, Gary. (2012). Seven Principles of Good Government. Aberdeen: Silver Lake Publishing. (page 69)
    51. ↑ Johnson, Gary. (2012). Seven Principles of Good Government. Aberdeen: Silver Lake Publishing. (page 95)
    52. ↑ Libertarian Party, "The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 53.3 'MassLive.com, "Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld: Changing education standards 'a retrograde step,'" July 20, 2010
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