Topics in the News: Vouchers
Paul Ryan on Health Care
: Oct 11, 2012
Nobody is proposing vouchers; it's a check in the mailbox
Q: What is your specific plan for seniors who really can't afford to make up the difference in the value of what you call a premium support plan and others call a voucher? RYAN: A hundred percent coverage for them.
Q: How do you pay for it?
RYAN: The premium support payments? By taking down the subsidies for wealthy people.
BIDEN: We will not be part of any voucher [that says] when you're 65, go out there, shop for the best insurance you can get; you're out of Medicare.
You can buy back in, if you want, with this voucher, which will not keep pace with health care costs, because if it did keep pace with health care costs, there would be no savings.
We will be no part of a voucher program or the privatization of Social Security.
RYAN: A voucher is you go to your mailbox, get a check and buy something. Nobody's proposing that.
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Source: 2012 Vice Presidential debate
Mitt Romney on Health Care
: Oct 3, 2012
No change to near-retirees; Medicare vouchers for young
Q: You don't support Medicare vouchers?OBAMA: I don't.
ROMNEY: Again, that's for future people, not for current retirees.
OBAMA: In fairness, what Gov. Romney has now said is he'll maintain traditional Medicare alongside it.
But those insurance companies are pretty clever at figuring out who are the younger and healthier seniors. They recruit them, leaving the older, sicker seniors in Medicare. And the traditional Medicare system will collapse.
ROMNEY: What I support is no change for current retirees and near-retirees to Medicare. And the president supports taking $716 billion out of that program.
Q: And what about the vouchers?
ROMNEY: For people coming along that are young, what
I do to make sure that we can keep Medicare in place for them is to allow them either to choose the current Medicare program or a private plan. Their choice.
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Source: First Obama-Romney 2012 Presidential debate
Mitt Romney on Health Care
: Oct 3, 2012
Give young people a choice of Medicare or private insurer
OBAMA: Vouchers wouldn't necessarily keep up with health care inflation; it would cost the average senior about $6,000 a year.ROMNEY: For people coming along that are young, allow them either to choose the current Medicare program or a private plan.
Their choice. They get to choose--and they'll have at least two plans that will be entirely at no cost to them. So they don't have to pay additional money, no additional $6,000. That's not going to happen. And if the government can be as efficient as the
private sector and offer premiums that are as low, people will be happy to get traditional Medicare or they'll be able to get a private plan. I know my own view is I'd rather have a private plan. I'd just as soon not have the government telling me
what kind of health care I get. I'd rather be able to have an insurance company. If I don't like them, I can get rid of them.
OBAMA: Medicare has lower administrative costs than private insurance; private insurers have to make a profit.
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Source: First Obama-Romney 2012 Presidential debate
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Oct 3, 2012
I don't think Medicare vouchers are the way to go
ROMNEY: With regards to young people coming along, I've got proposals to make sure Medicare and Social Security are there for them without any question. OBAMA: I think it's important for Governor Romney to present this plan that he says will only
affect folks in the future. And the essence of the plan is that you would turn Medicare into a voucher program. It's called premium support, but it's understood to be a voucher program.
Q: And you don't support that?
OBAMA: I don't.
And let me explain why.
ROMNEY: Again, that's for future people, not for current retirees.
OBAMA: The idea, which was originally presented by Congressman Ryan, your running mate, is that we would give a voucher to seniors and they could go out
in the private marketplace and buy their own health insurance. The problem is that because the voucher wouldn't necessarily keep up with health care inflation, it was estimated that this would cost the average senior about $6,000 a year.
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Source: First Obama-Romney 2012 Presidential debate
Roseanne Barr on Education
: Sep 24, 2012
Supports parents choosing schools via vouchers
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Parents choose schools via vouchers"?
Q: Support
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Source: Email interview on presidential race with OnTheIssues.org
Gary Johnson on Education
: Aug 1, 2012
Vouchers OK for church childcare & church schools
I've got news for anybody who criticizes vouchers as being unconstitutional or says that government can't be spending money on religious institutions. In essence, we have a voucher system for child care. For those mothers who are on welfare, we give them
what in essence is a voucher which allows them to choose where to send their children to child care, and in many cases that child care is religious. That's a state-funded program. We don't call it a "voucher" but we might as well.
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Source: Seven Principles, by Gary Johnson, p. 96-97
Gary Johnson on Education
: Aug 1, 2012
$3,500 voucher for every K-12 student
I proposed that every K-12 student in the state of NM, all 300,000 of them, get a $3,500 voucher to attend whatever school the family wanted.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.
I used this example to explain:
If every student in Santa Fe were to opt out of public schools, which would never happen, Santa Fe public schools would be left with about 40% of their budget and no students. Tell me how that takes away from public education.
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.
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Source: Seven Principles, by Gary Johnson, p. 68-69
Gary Johnson on Education
: Aug 1, 2012
Vouchers are as constitutional as pre-school and day-care
The argument that vouchers favor the rich is absurd. People with money live in good neighborhoods that have good schools. Vouchers are for the poor, for those that don't have money, who live in the worst neighborhoods, go to the worst schools, and can't
get away from them.The argument that vouchers are unconstitutional because you're giving money to private schools is bogus. If you want to start calling vouchers unconstitutional, then every single state has got a lot of unconstitutional programs.
We give low-income parents money so they can take their pre-school children to day-care centers of their choice. Many are church-affiliated. We don't tell them where they have to take their child.
This is not about getting rid of or weakening public education, it's about providing alternatives that will force public schools to react very quickly. Public schools will get better if they have to compete.
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Source: Seven Principles, by Gary Johnson, p. 69
Gary Johnson on Education
: Aug 1, 2012
Competition would make our schools better
A poll came back on the issue of school vouchers that said we shouldn't use the term "voucher," that we should use "choice" or "opportunity scholarship" instead. But we were talking about vouchers!.I didn't want to try to circumvent or dilute the
issue. Instead, we took it to every part of the state, to the teachers' convention, to the parents, and made our case that, with so much money pouring into our schools, we had little to show for it. Competition would make our schools better.
When I sought re-election, my opponent thought the school voucher issue would be the death of me. I wasn't.
Business is about "Best product, best service, lowest price."
If you can combine all three of those elements, then you're successful. Period.
I see vouchers as a way of bringing those three business elements into education: Best product, best service, lowest price.
Click for Gary Johnson on other issues.
Source: Seven Principles, by Gary Johnson, p. 93-95
Virgil Goode on Education
: May 16, 2012
Vouchers are fine; but no finds available now
Q: Do you support parents choosing schools via vouchers?A: Vouchers are fine, but no funds available now.
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Source: Email interview on presidential race with OnTheIssues.org
Rocky Anderson on Education
: Feb 10, 2012
Opposes parents choosing schools via vouchers
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Parents choose schools via vouchers"?
A: Oppose
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Source: Email interview on presidential race with OnTheIssues.org
Barack Obama on Budget & Economy
: Jan 8, 2012
Obama economic stances compared to Romney
Do Obama and Romney disagree on school vouchers? (Yes). Do they both like "No Child Left Behind"? (No).
We cite details from Romney's books and speeches, and Obama's, so you can compare them, side-by-side, on issues like these:
Romney vs. Obama on Economic Issues
- Corporation Policy
- Financial Bailout
- Wall Street Reform
- Economic Stimulus
- Trickle-Down Economics
- National Debt
- Balanced Budget
- Campaign Finance Reform
-
Card Check
- Unemployment
- Social Security Privatization
- Trust Fund
- Entitlement Policy
- Tax-and-Spend Policies
- Death Tax
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Source: Paperback: Romney vs. Obama On The Issues
Andre Barnett on Education
: Jan 2, 2012
Opposes school vouchers
Q: Do you agree or disagree with the statement, "Parents choose schools via vouchers"?
A: Disagree, we need to make all schools accountable. We cannot allow some schools to excel while others fade into repetitious failure to succeed.
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Source: Email interview on presidential race with OnTheIssues.org
Ron Paul on Education
: Jan 1, 2012
Obama's education stances compared to Paul's
Do Obama and Paul agree on school vouchers? (Yes; they both oppose them, but for different reasons). Do they agree on stem cell research? (No; Obama supports it; Paul opposes it).
We cite details from Paul's books and speeches, and Obama's, so you can compare them, side-by-side, on issues like these:
Ron Paul vs. Barack Obama on Social Issues
- Abortion Morality
- Stem Cells
- Judicial Activism
- Welfare State
- Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell
- Defense of Marriage Act
- Affirmative Action
- College Loans
-
Religious Values
- Evolution
- School Vouchers
- Parental Leave
- Tea Party
- Principles of Liberty
- Racism
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Source: Paperback: Obama vs. Paul On The Issues
Gary Johnson on Education
: Jul 21, 2011
Give every student in New Mexico vouchers worth $3,500
Governor Johnson proposed giving every student in the entire state of New Mexico vouchers worth $3,500. He once compared the program to child-care vouchers, saying "For those mothers who are on welfare, we give them what in essence is a voucher which
allows them to choose where to send their children to child care, and in many cases that child care is religious. That's a state-funded program. We don't call it a voucher but it might just as well be called a voucher." He wants universal school choice.
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Source: Club for Growth 2012 Presidential White Paper #9: Johnson
Ron Paul on Education
: Apr 19, 2011
Competition helps, but vouchers invite bureaucratic control
Competition is helpful in any endeavor. And this is true in education. The near monopoly control over the indoctrination of young people in our public school systems is counterbalanced by homeschooling, private schooling and education readily available on
the Internet. The regulations on starting a variety of alternatives to public schooling are extremely tight and keep the market from operating as it might. The effort to provide more competition to the public school system has not solved the problem,
though there are always a few who benefit from vouchers, tax credits, and charter schools. Too often these efforts are unfairly made available and do not eliminate the power of the state to control the curriculum.
The best interim option for reform would be to give a tax credit for all educational expenses. Vouchers invite bureaucratic control of their usage and are unfairly distributed.
Click for Ron Paul on other issues.
Source: Liberty Defined, by Rep. Ron Paul, p. 78-79
Paul Ryan on Health Care
: Jan 29, 2010
Medicare is a $38 trillion unfunded liability--add vouchers
Pres. OBAMA: The major driver of our long-term liabilities, is Medicare and Medicaid and our health care spending. That's going to be what our children have to worry about. Now, [Rep. Paul Ryan's] approach--if I understand it correctly, would say we're
going to provide vouchers of some sort for current Medicare recipients at the current level.Rep. RYAN: No.
Pres. OBAMA: No?
Rep. RYAN: People 55 and above are grandfathered in.
Pres. OBAMA: But just for future beneficiaries, the basic idea would
be that at some point we hold Medicare cost per recipient constant as a way of making sure that that doesn't go way out of whack, right?
Rep. RYAN: We drew it as a blend of inflation and health inflation. Medicare is a $38 trillion unfunded liability--
it has to be reformed for younger generations because it's going bankrupt. And the premise of our idea is, why not give people the same kind of health care plan we here have in Congress?
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Source: Obama Q&A at 2010 House Republican retreat in Baltimore
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jan 29, 2010
Medicare is major driver of our long-term liabilities
Pres. OBAMA: The major driver of our long-term liabilities, is Medicare and Medicaid and our health care spending. That's going to be what our children have to worry about. Now, [Rep. Paul Ryan's] approach--if I understand it correctly, would say we're
going to provide vouchers of some sort for current Medicare recipients at the current level.Rep. RYAN: No.
Pres. OBAMA: No?
Rep. RYAN: People 55 and above are grandfathered in.
Pres. OBAMA: But just for future beneficiaries, the basic idea would
be that at some point we hold Medicare cost per recipient constant as a way of making sure that that doesn't go way out of whack, right?
Rep. RYAN: We drew it as a blend of inflation and health inflation. Medicare is a $38 trillion unfunded liability--
it has to be reformed for younger generations because it's going bankrupt. And the premise of our idea is, why not give people the same kind of health care plan we here have in Congress?
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Source: Obama Q&A at 2010 House Republican retreat in Baltimore
Barack Obama on Education
: Oct 15, 2008
I doubled charter schools in Illinois; but no vouchers
McCAIN: Choice and competition amongst schools is one of the key elements that’s already been proven in places in like New Orleans and New York City and other places, where we have charter schools.
We have to be able to give parents the same choice, frankly, that Sen. Obama and Mrs. Obama had and Cindy and I had to send our kids & their kids to the school of their choice.Charter schools aren’t the only answer, but they’re providing competition.
They are providing the kind of competitions that have upgraded both types of schools.
OBAMA: Sen. McCain and I actually agree on charter schools. I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions.
I think it’s important to foster competition inside the public schools. Where we disagree is on the idea that we can somehow give out vouchers as a way of securing the problems in our education system.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: 2008 third presidential debate against John McCain
Barack Obama on Education
: Oct 15, 2008
Vouchers don’t solve the problems of our schools
McCAIN: I’m sure you’re aware, Sen. Obama, of the program in the Washington, D.C., school system where vouchers are provided. It’s a thousand and some 9,000 parents asked to be eligible for that.OBAMA: The D.C. school system is in terrible shape, and
it has been for a very long time. And we’ve got a wonderful new superintendent there who’s working very hard with the young mayor.
McCAIN: Who supports vouchers.
OBAMA: Actually, she supports charters.
McCAIN: She supports vouchers, also.
OBAMA:
Even if Sen. McCain were to say that vouchers were the way to go--I disagree with him on this, because the data doesn’t show that it actually solves the problem--the centerpiece of Sen. McCain’s education policy is to increase the voucher program in
D.C. by 2,000 slots. That leaves all of you who live in the other 50 states without an education reform policy from Sen. McCain.
McCAIN: Because there’s not enough vouchers; therefore, we shouldn’t do it, even though it’s working. I got it.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: 2008 third presidential debate against John McCain
Barack Obama on Education
: Oct 15, 2008
FactCheck: McCain for national reforms & also DC vouchers
The Statement:Obama criticized McCain’s education proposals, saying, “The centerpiece of Senator McCain’s education policy is to increase the voucher program in D.C. by 2,000 slots,” Obama said. “That leaves all of you who live in the other
50 states without an education reform policy from Senator McCain.”The Facts:McCain does support expanding what’s called The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. But McCain’s other proposals for education, as detailed on his campaign
Web site, include expanding funding for at least one Head Start center in each state; requiring all federally supported preschools to offer comprehensive teaching in subjects including literacy, math readiness and social skills; and funding to provide
bonuses to teachers who move to underperforming schools.
The Verdict:False. While education has been less prominent than other issues, McCain has several education proposals other than school vouchers.
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Source: CNN FactCheck on 2008 third presidential debate
Barack Obama on Education
: Jul 12, 2008
Fight for social & economic justice begins in the classroom
We’ll make sure that every child in this country gets a world-class education from the day they’re born until the day they graduate from college. What McCain is offering amounts to little more than the same tired rhetoric about vouchers. We need to move
beyond the same debate we’ve been having for the past 30 years when we haven’t gotten anything done. We need to fix & improve our public schools, not throw our hands up and walk away from them. We need to uphold the ideal of public education, but we also
need reform. That’s why I’ve introduced a comprehensive strategy to recruit an army of new quality teachers to our communities--and to pay them more & give them more support. We’ll invest in early childhood education programs so that our kids don’t begin
the race of life behind the starting line and offer a $4,000 tax credit to make college affordable for anyone who wants to go. Because as the NAACP knows better than anyone, the fight for social justice and economic justice begins in the classroom.
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Source: McCain-Obama speeches at 99th NAACP Convention
Sarah Palin on Education
: Oct 22, 2006
Support charters & home schools; not private school vouchers
Q: Would you support amending the state constitution to allow private school vouchers?
A: My priorities are to support options for education as allowable within the current funding formula--including home schools, charter schools and vocational training. This doesn’t require amending the constitution.
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Source: Anchorage Daily News: 2006 gubernatorial candidate profile
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Oct 11, 2006
Supports public school choice; but not private nor parochial
In 2006, Hillary disparaged vouchers partly on the worry that vouchers enabling parents to send their children to parochial schools could be used to train children to become terrorists. A Cato Institute Education specialist pointed out that “under
federal law no one would be permitted to open a school that advocates violence against the country.” Thus vouchers could not go to a “School of Jihad.” Years earlier, Hillary tried to play centrist on the school choice debate. In It Takes a
Village she said she supported “choice among public schools” but redefined “school choice.” Instead of helping provide choice between public and private schools, she uses choice to mean choice among public schools. She wrote “some critics of public
schools urge greater competition among schools as a way of returning control from bureaucrats and politicians to parents and teachers. I find their arguments persuasive, and that’s why I strongly favor promoting choice among public schools.”
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, by Amanda Carpenter, p. 89-90
Barack Obama on Education
: Oct 1, 2006
More teacher pay in exchange for more teacher accountability
Conservatives argue that the problems in schools are caused by bureaucracies and teachers’ unions; and that the only solution is to hand out vouchers. Those on the left find themselves defending an indefensible status quo, insisting that more spending
will improve education.Both assumptions are wrong. Money does matter in education. But there is no denying that the way many public schools are managed poses at least as big a problem as how well they’re funded.
Our task is to identify those reforms
that have the highest impact on achievement, fund them, and eliminate those programs that don’t produce results. We are going to have to take the teaching profession seriously. This means paying teachers what they are worth. There is no reason why an
experienced, highly qualified teacher shouldn’t earn $100,000. In exchange for more money, teachers need to become more accountable for their performances, and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers.
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Source: The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.161-163
Mitt Romney on Education
: Mar 21, 2002
Supported means-tested vouchers for public & private schools
- Pledged to vote to establish a means-tested school voucher program to allow students to attend the public or private school of their choice.
- Supported abolishing the federal Department of Education
-
Favored keeping control of educational reform at the lowest level, closest to parents, teachers, and the community
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Source: Boston Globe review of 1994 canpaign issues
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Oct 28, 2000
More teachers, smaller classes, no vouchers
I’ve been involved with schools now for 17 years, working on behalf of education reform. And I think we know what works. We know that getting classroom size down works. That’s why I’m for adding 100,000 teachers to the classroom. We know that modernizing
and better equipping our schools works. And we know that high standards works. But what’s important is to stay committed to the public school system, not siphon off money, as my opponent would, with vouchers.
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Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Oct 8, 2000
Vouchers would take money from public schools
Q: Why don’t you support vouchers for low-income parents?CLINTON: I could not support vouchers that would take money away from schools where teachers are in partitioned hallways, where the teacher has the only textbook in the classroom. If we can get
class size down, if we can provide qualified teachers, we can make a difference. I support adding 100,000 teachers to lower class size. I support the bipartisan school construction funding authority that would permit New York to have school construction
without raising taxes.
LAZIO: I have voted twice to support hiring additional teachers. Under my plan, New York would not get shortchanged. Under Mrs. Clinton’s plan, New Yorkers would be subsidizing Southern states. I think it’s immoral to
force a child to go to a school where they can’t learn. Poor parents want to have the choice to give their children the education that I want for my children. I trust parents to make that decision, and that’s a major philosophical difference.
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Source: Senate debate in Manhattan
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Sep 13, 2000
Vouchers drain money from public schools
Q: Do you support vouchers for private schools? CLINTON: I’ve visited schools throughout the state and some of them are among the finest in the world that you could find anywhere. But others are overcrowded, under-resourced. That’s why I put forth a
plan to try to get the teachers that we need and to provide the funds that are required for modernizing our schools, as well as setting high standards, making them safe from violence. I do not support vouchers. And the reason I don’t is because
I don’t think we can afford to siphon dollars away from our underfunded public schools.
LAZIO: I believe that it’s immoral to ask a child to go to a school where they can’t learn or where they’re not safe. 80 percent of African-American and Hispanic
parents feel that they need it. Why should we trap poor kids in failing schools simply because the teachers unions won’t agree with it?
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Source: Clinton-Lazio debate, Buffalo NY
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Jul 5, 1999
Vouchers will not improve our public schools
I know there are some who believe that vouchers are the way to improve our public schools; I believe they are dead wrong. There is simply no evidence that vouchers improve student achievement. We’ve been experimenting with vouchers in some
jurisdictions for a couple of years-we’ve found no evidence that these have made any difference in student achievement. But what they have done is to divert much-needed public funds for the few and have weakened the entire system.
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Source: Remarks to NEA in Orlando, Florida
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Aug 4, 1998
Vouchers siphon off much-needed resources
Charter schools are a way of bringing teachers and parents and communities together-instead of other efforts-like vouchers-which separate people out-siphon much needed resources; and weakening the school systems that desperately need to be strengthened.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: Remarks at Charter School Meeting, Washington DC
Page last updated: Apr 30, 2013