Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland, announced over the weekend that he’ll be running for president. He’s only the third Democrat to announce, joining Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a comparatively shallow race (the Republicans, on the other hand, already have nine confirmed candidates). He’s also the subject of the twelfth installment of the Eduwatch 2016 series chronicling presidential candidates’ stances on education issues.
O’Malley has been in politics most of his adult life. He helped on campaigns in his twenties, ran for state senate, got elected to the Baltimore City Council, served as the mayor of Baltimore for two terms, and was the Old Line State’s governor for eight years. During that time, he’s made education a priority—so much so that, according to his gubernatorial staff, he was “widely considered to be the ‘education governor.’” Here’re some quotes:
1. Common Core: “Our goal moving forward is to build the best public school system in not just America, but in the world. That's why we're choosing to adopt the Common Core standards, new curricula that will prepare our kids to be winners in a global economy, which is growing more knowledge-based by the day.” August 2013.
2. Career and technical education: “As I look at the things economically we need to do....having a skills agenda for the twenty-first century for our people that redesigns that fourth year of high school and that dials up the value of career and technical education, especially in the information age.” November 2014.
3. Charter schools: “An outstanding charter school system in Maryland provides the competition and motivation for all public schools to increase academic performance, expand choices in public education, and continue to close the achievement gap….I, Martin O'Malley, Governor of the State of Maryland, do hereby proclaim May 2–6, 2011 as National Charter School Week in Maryland, and do commend this celebration to all of our citizens.” May 2011.
4. Education tax credits: “The BOAST bill [a Maryland tax credit program], such as it was proposed, I did support….When I was in Baltimore City, there were a whole lot of kids who went to Catholic schools in Baltimore City, and a lot of their parents were from very humble means. And that $5 million in tax credits for business that were to give...look, I did support that and continue to. But that $5 million pales in comparison to the $5.8 billion that we put into public education.” November 2012.
5. Vouchers: “I'm still opposed to vouchers.” November 2012.
6. Early childhood education: “There is no better investment that we can make as a people than in early childhood education....Not to invest in early childhood education is just going to cost you a hell of a lot more down the road.” August 2014.
7. The importance of education: “In an innovation economy, education is the single most effective strategy for creating jobs and expanding middle class opportunities.” August 2013.
8. The U.S. Department of Education: “Now Joni Ernst on the other side, she wants to...eliminate the Department of Education. How much less schooling do you think would be good for our kids, Joni? Can you imagine someone with those sorts of extreme views holding the seat that Tom Harkin so ably filled?” June 2014.
9. The student debt problem: “The vast majority of students—70 percent—are graduating with debt. On average, they’re carrying loan amounts big enough to buy a nice car or cover the down payment on a house. But instead of making those investments, or starting a family or a business, they’re struggling to keep up with student loan payments....Although average tuition at a public four-year college has more than tripled over the past thirty years, a typical family’s income has barely budged....One might ask how this nation fell from first in the world to twelfth in producing college graduates. We did it one onerous student loan at a time.” April 2015.
10. The student debt solution: “To really make a dent in student debt, the federal government will have to act....First, Congress must allow students to refinance the debt they have....Second, we should cap the monthly payments on students’ loans, so students whose passion is teaching or policing or national service can pursue their dreams without worrying about debt or default....Alone, these two proposals...would go a long way toward relieving the burden of student debt.” April 2015.
11. Affordable higher education: “Our ultimate goal must be for every student—most especially low-income and middle class students—to be able to go to college debt-free.” April 2015.
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That’s it for Martin O’Malley. Next up is Republican Lindsey Graham, who announced yesterday. I’ll follow that up with Rick Perry and Lincoln Chafee, who plan to declare later this week. Until then.
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Read what Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, and Lindsey Graham have said about education.
