The Task EDUC 875 students were assigned to two separate Think Tanks in order to categorize and analyze the presidential candidates' positions on education.  The focus was on: The candidates' position on specified educational issues How the candidates market themselves on these issues using traditional and non-traditional mechanisms.
	The Process We researched the republican and democratic candidates (and hopefulls) in regards to the following policies: NCLB School Choice /Vouchers/ Charter Schools Special Education Bilingual Education School Prayer Funding/Accountability Early Childhood Education School Safety Standards/Curriculm Teacher pay/hiring State Role Personal Focus Higher Education
	Our Findings Analysis of Current Presidential Candidates and Their Positions on Education Issues Debbie Bergeron Amanda Cline Kristin Dillon Michael Fitzgerald Barbara Gruber Ronald Pannell Bernadine Pearson Anna Safi Janet Sorlin-Davis Anne Umina Michelle Woodford   The EDUC 875 doctoral students in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University have spent eight weeks researching, reviewing and analyzing the current presidential candidates, specifically looking at their positions on education issues. While the world of presidential campaigns is a constantly changing one, there are some solid conclusions that emerge when looking at the various messages candidates communicate through the myriad of communication resources available to them in today’s technological environment. Looking at the education issue specifically was a challenge because the current political climate is focused on Iraq and Immigration, not education. Accepting that education would not be a priority for any one candidate from the beginning of the research process, however, helped to focus the research in more creative ways to find trends within the education realm. Indeed trends did emerge in terms of which specific education issues candidates choose to address, they way in which they communicate their messages and the impact that the candidates’ resources may have on the outcomes of such attempts to communicate with the public at large. At times, the outcomes were predictable based on the political party which the candidates represent, but there were some surprises as well. While many areas of education are ignored by some candidates, there are other issues which are obviously “hot button” issues that demand the attention a political candidate needs. In general, Democrat candidates favor more funding. Whatever the issue, law or policy, Democrat candidates generally believed more money was necessary to have the desired outcome. From IDEA, NCLB, Head Start and Higher Education, Democrats tend to favor increasing the budgets in order to affect change. Republicans are not without their funding support as well. With regard to NCLB, Republicans simply say the law needs to be “fixed,” often supporting more funding. This was not too far from the message sent by most Democrats. Within NCLB, however, Republican candidates would like to see the States retain as much power as possible over their schools, limiting Federal influence within school systems. Some Republicans, like Ron Paul and Chuck Hagel, vehemently oppose NCLB because it takes too much power from the state and local governments. The most interesting thing about NCLB and where the candidates lie on this policy is that traditionally one would expect Democrats to support something that gives more power to the Federal Government and increases funding within the schools. One might expect Republicans to reject something that takes away States’ power and creates more entitlements. Perhaps it is pure politics that determines how the candidates determine their stance on NCLB. It is a “George Bush” policy and seems to get support based on that fact. Differences between Republican and Democrat candidates are most obvious within issues like Vouchers where control of schools should lie. Because Republicans tend to support local control, they support change that gives more power to parents to make choices about their children’s education. Unlike this view, Democrats tend to oppose any attempt to give more power or choice to parents, fearing a drain of resources from the public school system. One of the most surprising issues is School Prayer. Republicans speak out in favor of some sort of approved voluntary school prayer. This stance is to be expected. Leading Democrats, however, do not take the opposite view. Instead, they tend to delicately speak out as “people of faith” who believed in a separation of church and state. Overall, education is not a particularly defining issue down party lines. In terms of communication methods, modern technology has enabled candidates to reach the general population in ways never before available. Traditional newspaper, television and radio still exist as the “mainstream” mode of communication and often the catalyst for further exposure online. More contemporary communication in the way of pod-casts, blogs, personal web sites and Internet watchdogs have emerged to give candidates access to a younger audience. While the often gives candidates with less money for traditional communication methods access to the public more readily, it may often backfire, giving the public an opportunity to voice their opinions about candidates, from their positions on specific issues to more personal attacks, with no credibility but great exposure. In general, there was no distinctive difference between the way the candidates are communicating right now. They are relying on their web sites to draw interested voters and online mainstream media to cover them the way traditional mainstream media might do at this point in the election. Furthermore, they can rely on “watchdog” agencies to report everything from how much money they’ve raised and from where the money is raised to a complete historical voting record including absence from voting, giving the public ready access to information that may have never been so easily available in the past. Candidates like Newt Gingrich, who airs a regular radio show, is able to take advantage of the Internet by placing pod-cast versions of his regular show on the Internt for anyone to hear at any time of day or night. Finally, this analysis concluded that while we are in the age of instant news and information, traditional means of communication like television and newspapers remain the catalyst for “political buzz.” While the media sources a candidate uses is a significant indicator as to a candidate’s viability, a look at the vast differences is resources available to candidates at this juncture directly relates to the amount of information available and thus impacts the effectiveness of his/her message. While no candidate is formally advertising, it is obvious that those with greater resources (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, even Fred Thompson – who is not an official candidate, but who is known for financial wealth) are able to command a great deal of attention in the mainstream media. It is highly likely that they have on payroll individuals who are able to infiltrate the Internet blog sites and contribute to media buzz in general. Once the campaign is officially underway this hype is only expected to increase. Finally, it is worth noting some “light-bulb” moments that came from the process which produced the matrix that follows. These were morsels of information which were surprising and perhaps never have been revealed had it not been for deep research into each candidate. A few worth mentioning include, George Pataki who initially was a strong candidate but by the time research was underway had no viability whatsoever. Fred Thompson remains a “non-candidate” but is commanding greater attention than most of his Republican counterparts. Tom Tancredo is a school teacher by trade. John McCain belongs to many non-profit organizations supporting Hispanic Youth. Mike Huckabee was once head of the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board. John Edwards’ primary focus throughout his career has been fighting poverty. These are just a few of the details that emerge when taking the time to consider a wide variety of media with an attempt to gather data in an objective fashion. The results of this study may be found on the Candidate Position Matrix .