Republican Vice Presidential Picks and Education

While the edublogosphere has analyzed the candidates positions on education, speculated on various Secretary of Education possibilities, and commented on education spokespersons, it has yet to produce anything substantive on the policies of likely vice presidential picks. In order to keep the list manageable and relevant to TQATE, this discussion is limited only to widely speculated picks who also have an interest in education, our chosen issue. Let's start with the Republicans:

- Bobby Jindal, 37-year old governor of Louisiana, would bring spice to a McCain ticket. The son of Indian immigrants, Jindal has been called the "next Ronald Reagan" by Rush Limbaugh. Jindal has shown strong interest in education, serving from 1999-2001 as the president of the University of Louisiana System. During his tenure, he encouraged each school to develop one area of expertise and he got the eight state universities, as one, to recruit high schoolers to stay in-state. Governor since only January, Jindal has already touched some hot education issues, signing a modest voucher law and a law focusing on critical thinking skills, particularly towards evolution, cloning, and global warming.

Bottom line: Last week's joint McCain-Jindal events being disrupted by an oil spill and inclement weather could be the key omen. Plus, Jindal's youth weakens any McCain critiques on Barack Obama's inexperience. His education credentials are still a little thin to help or hurt John McCain this fall, but Jindal is a man to be watched.

- As a very good friend of John McCain, and governor of swing-state Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty has been and continues to be a favorite for the spot. Pawlenty has consistently chosen to make education one of his chief issues. He served 10 years as an attorney for the Minneapolis school district. As governor, Pawlenty chaired National Governors Association's education committee (before leading the whole organization), and in March he assumed the head of the Education Commission of the States. Most widely known is his passage of QComp, a statewide performance pay plan rewarding teachers for positive evaluations and student and school achievement scores. Pawlenty has also proposed summer teacher training academies that look similar to Teach for America's.

Bottom line: Pawlenty's a real contender for the spot, not least because of his strong friendship with McCain. His strong advocacy in education would supplement McCain's seeming disinterest in the topic.

- As governor of Massachusetts and as a candidate for President, Mitt Romney has taken education stands on many issues. An advocate for testing and accountability, Romney implemented Massachusetts' high school exit exam, and, during his campaign, was not shy about taking credit for his state's high NAEP scores. He successfully fought an attempt to stop the expansion of charter schools, but failed to pass performance pay or legislation granting the state a larger role in turning around struggling schools. His effort to increase students' time in schools became a small pilot program that has shown early, limited results. Romney successfully passed a large merit scholarship program, but failed spectacularly in a short-lived effort to restructure the governance of state colleges and universities. On the campaign trail he advocated for school choice and tax credits for home schooling and strongly opposed tuition support for children of illegal immigrants.

Bottom line: Romney is considered to have the best fundraising prowess of any on this list. That alone could be a big reason to call on him in a campaign against Obama's small donation machine. His ties to Michigan don't hurt either. On education, like his stances on other issues, Romney seems to be everywhere. Not necessarily in a good way.

- Another education-minded governor is Florida's Charlie Crist. He served as State Education Commissioner prior to winning the governorship in 2006. Crist has overseen major strife in his state's higher education governance structure. A 2007 report suggested a three-tier system with better defined mission focus. Third-tier schools would focus on undergraduate education, leaving the top tier to address graduate education and research. Its blog has only one post, but 2,752 comments. Starting in 2008, Crist-signed legislation that will allow state universities to charge different rates of tuition. Crist is also a supporter of the 65-cent solution to public education funding.

Bottom line: Crist is credited as almost single-handedly winning the Florida primary for McCain. It was a huge win, and geography alone could lead McCain to pick Crist. Crist's education platform looks similar to McCain's; here's hoping McCain does not take that as a good thing.