Jim Webb recently declared his candidacy for president. The former U.S. senator from Virginia is just the fifth Democrat to do so, a number that contrasts sharply with the fourteen Republicans gunning for their party’s primary. He’s also the subject of the nineteenth installment of the Eduwatch 2016 series chronicling presidential candidates’ stances on education issues.
Webb has served his country much of his adult life, only becoming a politician in 2007. Before that, he was an officer in the Marine Corps, a counsel for the House Veterans Affairs Committee, the assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, the secretary of the navy, an author of ten books (both fiction and nonfiction), and an Emmy-winning filmmaker. American education hasn’t been a major focus of his career, so he’s said less on the subject than most candidates. Nevertheless, here’s a sampling:
1. Pre-K: “The first [challenge we face in American education] is the benefit we can get through pre-K programs that would allow less privileged children to begin socialization and education at an earlier age.” July 2015.
2. Cost of college: “The second [challenge we face in American education] is the huge student loan debt that is hanging over the heads of so many of our talented young people who must mortgage their futures in order to have one.…We could...find a way for those who have finished their education to complete a period of public service, with loan forgiveness as an incentive for that service.” July 2015.
3. High school graduation rates: “The third [challenge we face in American education] is the reality that about 25 percent of the young people in this country do not even finish high school. During my time in the Senate, we worked hard to create second-chance programs for those who had not finished high school, financed in part by employer tax credits combined with programs in local community colleges. If I am elected president, we can make these programs happen.” July 2015.
4. Adult education: “We need to place renewed emphasis on...the often-overlooked area of adult education, which I focused on heavily when I was in the Senate. Adult education systems have not kept pace with our workers’ needs or those of the workplace. Twenty-nine percent of adults read at only an eighth-grade level. Among adults with the lowest literacy rates, 43 percent live in poverty. Too many workers do not have the education skills for jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.” March 2015.
5. No Child Left Behind: “You have federal requirements that are being put into place without the full amount of funding so that local jurisdictions are having to make up the difference, which is taking money away from other things they could be doing.” October 2006.
6. De facto tracking: “We tend to label kids early on, and we've gotten worse at it rather than better over the years.” September 2008.
7. Fixing education and making it equal: “Let’s put a priority on fixing our educational system and, in the process, giving our young people the priorities in our society and the future that they deserve....Let’s rebuild an educational system that gives everyone a fair chance. A democracy is only as strong as the promise it offers its young citizens through the public education system.” July 2015.
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That’s it for Jim Webb. Scott Walker is rumored to be announcing on July 13—if so, he’ll be next. See you then.
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Read what Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, Martin O'Malley, Lindsey Graham, Lincoln Chafee, Rick Perry, Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and John Kasich have said about education.
