Bill Bradley on School Choice
More info on schools so parents can choose what is best
A way to hold schools accountable is to enable parents to send their children to another school if the current one isn’t meeting their needs.
As a condition of receiving federal aid, states should allow students to transfer out of a low-performing public school to attend a higher-performing public school.
Source: The Journey From Here, by Bill Bradley, p.115-16
Aug 15, 2000
Allow parents to move to better-performing public schools
GORE: Bradley voted for vouchers every single time they came up for a vote during his entire 18 years in the Senate. I think those votes were a mistake. The Republicans always portray them as experiments, because that’s how they try to get Democrats to
go along with it. BRADLEY: When I talk to people in urban America, they’re very concerned about their schools. I frequently fought and always voted to increase Title 1 fundings. I advocate doubling Title 1 money, which is the largest federal program
that goes to urban schools, and to use that money to improve the quality of the teaching -- every teacher has to be qualified to hold schools accountable so that we reduce the disparity between minority and non-minority
performance. And give parents the freedom to move from one public school to another public school if the second one is a better performing school. That’s investment in urban public education.
Source: Democrat debate in Harlem, NYC
Feb 21, 2000
Vouchers gave parents a chance, but system isn’t big enough
Q: After 35 years and a $100 billion in Title 1 money, why shouldn’t urban minority parents conclude that opposition to choice supports a special interest-the teachers’ unions-rather than their interest? A: The reason I voted for experiments in
vouchers on several occasions was because I was listening to urban parents. [As Senator, urban minority] parents would come up to me and say, “Our school is a disaster; drugs, violence, teachers that aren’t qualified, nobody cares. What are you going to
do about it?“ And I said ”Well, you ought to join the school board.“ They’d look at me like I just descended from Mars. So I voted to give them a chance with a couple of experiments. There are now experiments in Milwaukee and in Cleveland. But I think
the answer is not vouchers. Because the system isn’t big enough. The answer is a major new investment in public education under Title I, [with funds to make] the schools accountable for results and qualified teachers.
Source: Democrat debate in Harlem, NYC
Feb 21, 2000
Supports experimenting, but vouchers are not the answer
Q: If we create vouchers, wouldn’t it help the public schools by lowering the enrollments and, in fact, give the public schools more money, or no?
A: No, I don’t think so.
Q: Can you clarify your voucher position then at this time?
A: Sure. I
don’t think vouchers are the answer to the problems of public education. I voted for it several times, when I was in the Senate, as an experiment. There are now two experiments going on. I don’t think it’s the answer to the problems of public education.
Source: Democrat Debate in Manchester NH
Jan 26, 2000
Voted for voucher experiments; now focus on public schools
GORE [to Bradley]: Senator Bradley voted for vouchers every single time they came up for 18 years in the Senate. I’m glad that he says he’s opposed to them now and that was a mistake, but when he talks about them, I still get the feeling he’s a little
intrigued by them. I think that they represent a mistake because they would drain money away from our public schools at a time when we ought to be increasing the federal investment in public schools. BRADLEY: I don’t think vouchers are the answer to
the problems of public education. I’ve said that over and over in the course of the campaign. I voted for experiments. Those experiments were tried to help kids that are caught in dead schools have a chance. No experiments ever took place and so now I
think what we need to do is we need to focus on how we improve education in this country. I’ve offered a proposal that would put 600,000 qualified great teachers in public schools in urban areas and in rural areas of this country.
Source: Democrat Debate in Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 17, 2000
Vouchers are not the solution to schools’ problems
Frequent tangling is developing over the question of taxpayer-financed vouchers for private schools. Bradley [voted] in the Senate to support voucher experiments in Cleveland and Milwaukee. But Bradley
has said that unlike several Republican contenders, he does not see vouchers as the solution to public education’s problems. In any case, vouchers involve a fraction of the nation’s students and have little to do with who is president.
Source: NY Times, p. A15
Jan 4, 2000
Voted for vouchers & for school choice, including private
Voting record on school choice issues:- Voted YES to provide $30 million for a demonstration project to allow students in 20 violence-prone schools to use vouchers to move to safe schools. (S 1513, 7/27/94)
- Voted YES to fund school choice
demonstration programs. (S 1150, 2/8/94)
- Voted YES to school-aid plan allowing low-income students to attend private schools (school-choice plan). (S 2, 1/23/92)
Source: Project Vote Smart -- Voting Record
Jul 27, 1994