Grading the Candidates on Ed Reform

The Education Equality Project (EEP) and Education Reform Now (ERN) released a report today(pdf warning) on this season’s crop of gubernatorial candidates.  The two groups examined how candidates supported particular education reforms.  “Making the Grade” assessed candidates’ positions on teacher and principal recruitment, accountability, school choice, and other issues.  “Governors play a critically important role in closing the achievement gap and voters must know where they stand on key education issues before heading to the polls,” said Ellen Winn, Director of the Education Equality Project.  How did Maine’s gubernatorial candidates stack up?

The EEP and ERN graded candidates on seven questions.  Candidates were asked for their views on school choice – specifically vouchers and charter schools, accountability and interventions for chronically failing schools, policies on effective teachers – including teacher and principal certification, compensation, and teacher tenure.  The other questions focused on current K-12 funding levels in the candidate’s state, how they would alter the funding system – funding following students, highlighting return on investments, etc., support for Race to the Top, and if the candidate would adopt Common Core standards.  The first three questions were awarded a score of 0-6.  Candidates could receive 0-3 points for each of the final four.  Those who supported current trends in education reform (eg. merit pay, charter schooling, greater accountability) were given high scores than those who rejected those reforms.

EEP and ERN asked Libby Mitchell, Paul LePage, and Eliot Cutler to complete their survey.  Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott were not asked to participate.  Only Cutler filled out the survey(pdf warning) in full.  LePage provided some information to the two groups.  Mitchell did not respond, but the EEP and ERN did look at her website and found enough information to grade her.  Candidates were given two chances to complete the survey, in early Augusta and early September.

If you have been following the candidates’ education statements, you probably have a good idea of how each candidate fared.  Both Mitchell and LePage received “F”s.  Cutler did quite well, receiving an “A”.  Bellow is a chart showing how each candidate scored in each area.

Mitchell and LePage did not do well on this survey, but for distinct reasons.  This is shows a major difference in the political philosophies of Mitchell and LePage.

Mitchell typically is not a fan of the reforms that were key to the heavily weighted sections of the survey.  Mitchell does not support charters or vouchers.  Nor will you find Mitchell touting the merits of performance pay.  Mitchell has not, to my knowledge, spoken out for or against alternative teacher certification.  Funding is a priority for the candidate.  Libby Mitchell is a classic Democrat when it comes to education, is not meant to be derogatory.  However, this is not completely the kind of educational focus the ERN/EEP was looking for.

LePage has supported many forms of school choice, such as charters, vouchers, and homeschooling.  The candidate referred to the state’s low-performance interventions as “rewarding poor performance”.  The ERN/EEP report stated that it was “disturbing to find several candidates offering only the most vague or perfunctory statements, generalities, and clichés that will frustrate voters eager to know what three or four key issues their next governor might consider vital to improving our schools.”  LePage likely received low points in some areas for being vague, specifically how he will implement performance pay for teachers and how he will “streamline” the education budget.  LePage’s emphasis greater state and local control of education policy also cost him points.  LePage is the yin to Mitchell’s yang.  He is an old school small government conservative.

Cutler is the type of education reformer the ERN/EEP are looking for.  Charter schools have been key to Cutler’s education plans from the beginning.  He has been open to reforming teacher compensation and tenure.  Cutler spoke out against Maine’s failure to compete in the Race to the Top.  Collaborative efforts to develop accountability methods, advocacy for alternative teacher certification, and support for Common Core standards made Cutler almost impossible to top for the other two candidates.  It likely also helped that Cutler completed his survey.

These scores only matter if you support the reforms the ERN/EEP advocate for.  If you agree with their version of education reform, then clearly Cutler is the candidate for you.  If you’re looking for someone to protect the state’s education budget, while advocating smaller changes vote for Mitchell.  If you’d rather the federal and state government backed off and gave more power to the locals, pick LePage.  This is, of course, a completely oversimplified view of the candidate’s positions.  We have many resources you can explore before you make your decision.  Please check out the links bellow for more.

First let’s look out how other candidates in New England fared:

Connecticut – Malloy “B” Foley “A”

Massachusetts – Patrick “B” Baker “F” Cahill “F”

New Hampshire – Lynch “Incomplete” Stephen “Incomplete”

Rhode Island – Caprio “C” Robitaille “Incomplete” Chafee “Incomplete”

Vermont – Shumlin “Incomplete” Dubie “Incomplete”

Candidate Education Policy Resources:

Libby Mitchell Outline -Part 1, Part 2

Paul LePage Outline -Part 1, Part 2

Eliot Cutler Outline -Part 1, Part 2