State of Tennessee secondary Archives: on Education

Terry Adams: Invest in our public education system

Let's get real: a student without a high school diploma earns less than half of the per year average wage in America. 68% of the U.S. prison system is populated by individuals who did not graduate high school. In a nutshell, if you don't graduate from high school, the deck is stacked against you.

Graduate from college, on the other hand, and see the opportunity to live the American dream unfold for you. In this country, the unemployment rate directly correlates with your level of education, which makes sense. Earnings for those with a college degree are 32% more than average earnings and over 200% more than someone who fails to graduate from high school.

Bob Corker: Bonuses for high-performing teachers

FORD: Sen. Al Gore Senior worked with Pres. Eisenhower to build the Interstate highway system, which was enormously important to commerce. We need a similar approach with education. For us to win the international educational competition, we’ve got to ensure that you have the best opportunities. My opponent’s party has made Pell Grants more expensive. My opponent’s party funded the No-Child-Left-Behind Act at half its promised level. We should not penalize any school until NCLB is fully funded.

CORKER: Education is the key to our future. As mayor, I worked with teachers to put in place some unusual policies that helped them flourish. Here in Chattanooga, we put in place incentives--bonuses for high-performing teachers who caused the things that ought to happen. What we saw was that those schools outperformed the other schools. I want to take those abilities at education achievement to Washington.

Harold Ford: Education needs equivalent of Interstate highway system

FORD: Sen. Al Gore Senior worked with Pres. Eisenhower to build the Interstate highway system, which was enormously important to commerce. We need a similar approach with education. For us to win the international educational competition, we’ve got to ensure that you have the best opportunities. My opponent’s party has made Pell Grants more expensive. My opponent’s party funded the No-Child-Left-Behind Act at half its promised level. We should not penalize any school until NCLB is fully funded.

CORKER: Education is the key to our future. As mayor, I worked with teachers to put in place some unusual policies that helped them flourish. Here in Chattanooga, we put in place incentives--bonuses for high-performing teachers who caused the things that ought to happen. What we saw was that those schools outperformed the other schools. I want to take those abilities at education achievement to Washington.

Steve Cohen: Sex ed should include abstinence AND contraception

Indicate which principles you support regarding education.
• Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
• Increase funding for Head Start programs.
• Require public schools to administer high school exit exams.

Steve Cohen: More funding for teachers, pre-K,and after school

Indicate which principles you support regarding education.
• Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
• Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
• Cohen adds, “Lottery Scholarship Standards should be high so there is excess money for pre-K and after school programs. ”