The general election debates of 2016 have passed. And the issue of school choice got no mention and education hardly came up at all.
Education (and school choice) generally isn’t a big issue in presidential elections. Both topics are generally regarded as state and local issues. But you only have to go back to 2012 to find the last time school choice was mentioned at a general election debate.
“I want the kids that are getting federal dollars from IDEA or Title I — these are disabled kids or … lower-income kids, rather, I want them to be able to go to the school of their choice,” Mitt Romney said in the first presidential debate. “So all federal funds, instead of going to the state or to the school district, I’d have go, if you will, follow the child and let the parent and the child decide where to send their student.”
In a long retort, President Obama didn’t specifically address Romney’s point about school choice. He simply claimed Romney might cut the education budget by “up to 20 percent.”
Romney retorted, saying, “I don’t have any plan to cut education funding.”
Even though he didn’t push back on school choice that night, Obama later pushed back against Romney’s idea after winning re-election. When an education bill moving through Congress in 2015 included the idea Romney mentioned, Obama threatened to veto the bill.
“Rather than investing more in schools,” the veto threat read, “H.R. 5 would allow states to divert education funding away from the schools and students who need it the most through the so-called ‘portability’ provision.”
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
