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On the eve of finals week for University of Iowa students, Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson hit the trail in Iowa City to hold a “conversation about education.” While the New Mexico governor pitched portions of his education platform in the second-floor ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union on Sunday evening, student study groups gathered on the floor below.
Richardson voiced his frustration about the lack of discussion and debate about education during the campaign. “I’ve made education one of my top priorities, second only to ending the war in Iraq and bringing all of our troops home,” Richardson told the crowd. “And the first thing I would do as president would be to crap No Child Left Behind (NCLB).”
“Review the figures, and you will see that our schools are not failing NCLB; the program is failing our schools,” Richardson wrote in an op-ed piece for the USA Today. “In some grades, reading and math scores have actually declined for Hispanics, African-Americans and others. The current pass-fail rating system is worse than meaningless – it’s counter-productive. If a school needs help, we should help that school. We shouldn’t punish it, as NCLB mandates.”
Although the timing of Richardson’s speech may have deterred most of the UI students from attending, Richardson’s appearance still managed to attract more than 200 people. Richardson began in his usual fashion, breaking the ice with a joke: “First, I would like to thank all of you for not having the caucuses on Christmas Day.”After making his pitch to potential voters, playing on Iowa’s history of campaigning for underdogs and “upsetting the apple cart,” Richardson reiterated his vow to stay positive during the campaign, a vow that resonated with Iowans in 2004 when they propelled North Carolina Sen. John Edwards to a second-place finish in Iowa. “Let’s talk about the issues that affect our country. Let’s focus on policy issues, not personal attacks.”
This vow, however, was limited to Richardson’s Democratic rivals, which he described as one of the most impressive fields of candidates the Democrats have had and are expressing ways to move forward. “The Republicans, on the other hand, are stuck in the past and seem content with the status quo. They still want to build more walls on the border, they think the war in Iraq is actually going well, and don’t think there’s anything wrong with the current health care system.”
In order to reserve more time to field questions from the audience, Richardson kept his opening remarks brief, sticking to the top five priorities he’ll address from day one, should he win the presidency: ending the war in Iraq, education reform, energy revolution, universal health care, and restoring/protecting the U.S. Constitution.
Although the event was tabbed a conversation about education, the majority of the questions asked were related to foreign policy, which ranged from how he would reconcile the Israel-Palestine conflict and whether he would wait until the Fidel Castro family died before he would lift the embargo and open trade with Cuba.
No education-related questions were asked until after the event when the Iowa Independent had an opportunity to ask Richardson a few questions.
Iowa Independent: Regarding education and local control, Iowa educators are very proud of being the last state to maintain local control. You’ve offered a national curriculum in your education plan. Would you get rid of local control, or how would you preserve local control with the implementation of a national curriculum?
Richardson: I would maintain local control. In fact, No Child Left Behind has taken away local control, and that’s why I would get rid of it. I would create a partnership that would set national standards with local districts, but they would not be mandatory. Let’s talk about them, and the federal government should help. It would be a partnership. I do think we need national standards but arrived at in a democratic way, not imposed by the federal government. I do think we need longer class days and smaller class sizes. I would be a partner, unlike NCLB, which imposes unfunded mandates that aren’t working.
Iowa Independent: Wouldn’t this plan create another level of bureaucracy?
Richardson: No. I would run it through the Department of Education. In my cabinet, the Secretary of Education would be just as important as the Secretary of State and Defense. We don’t pay enough attention to education and funding our schools.
Iowa Independent: So how would this partnership evolve? Would it be an equal partnership or would it be a bottom-up movement?
Richardson: It would be from the bottom up. It would involve local community groups, school boards and teachers. Teachers weren’t asked about No Child Left Behind, but teachers would be main players in devising my new education policy.
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