The Quad-City Times, October 7, 2004
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1036748&t=Iowa+%2F+Illinois&c=24,1036748

Keyes, Obama Discuss Charter School Benefits

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO (AP) — U.S. Senate candidates Alan Keyes and Barack Obama agreed Thursday that establishing more charter schools was one way to improve the nation’s educational system, but they differed on the overall role that government should play toward that goal.

Keyes argued for less government spending on the current system in favor of alternatives such as home-schooling, while Obama said spending money on schools was important but parents also need to play a greater role in their children’s education.

The two spoke separately at a luncheon sponsored by the Metropolitan Planning Council, which asked them to address education, housing, transportation and economic opportunity issues facing the Chicago area.

Keyes, a Republican who has centered his campaign on social issues, said alternatives such as home-schooling or giving parents the freedom to send their children to schools that reflect their faith should be considered.

"We are dealing with a problem that government cannot handle," Keyes said. "We have taken the foundation of most moral, cultural education out of our schools, rendering them incompetent to provide the environment absolutely necessary for education to succeed."

Home-schooling children is cost-effective, he said, “because parents don’t generally demand high salaries for doing their job.”

Obama, a Democrat, said money for schools makes a difference in attracting qualified teachers, creating smaller class sizes, and improving facilities. But he said spending more money alone won’t improve the nation’s schools.

"No matter how much money we pour into it, it's not going to make a dime's worth of difference if, when children come home from school, parents don't turn off the television set and find a quiet place for children to do their homework," he said.

Obama said the federal government should fully fund the federal No Child Left Behind law, investing more money in early childhood education, teacher training, and charter schools, which get public money but operate free from many state rules.

"It is my strong belief that the more we can foster experimentation, the more we can foster a different set of models that can be franchised across the system, the more successful we can be," Obama said about charter schools.

Copyright © 2004 The Quad-City Times

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