gore & bush - education and politics - Brief Article

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, Oct, 2000 by Jennifer C. Patterson, Nicole Rivard

bush: College tuition has increased three times as fast as household incomes over the past 20 years, making it difficult for some families and students to afford college. During the same time, tuition for public and private college students has increased more than 200 percent on average and more than 4 percent over the last year. I will work to make college more affordable for more students by expanding student financial aid. Colleges must also do their part to contain the skyrocketing cost of tuition.

I believe the existing system of federal aid, which includes student grants, loans, work-study opportunities, campus-based programs, and tax code provisions is too complex and cumbersome. I favor a simple, well-proven delivery system of aid to our college students. The Pell grant program, for example, has proven to be very effective in opening the doors of opportunity to millions of Americans. I believe we should build on successful programs rather than create new ones.

In addition to the increases and expansion of the Pell Grant program discussed earlier, I will expand Education Savings Accounts, and grant tax exemptions to state and independent prepaid tuition plans to give parents and students more choices in schools without being penalized on their taxes. This change in ESAs will allow families or individuals with incomes up to $150,000 (or single earners with annual incomes up to $95,000) to contribute up to $5,000 annually per child into education savings accounts, up from the current $500 limit. Independent pre-paid tuition plans allow families to lock the cost of education at a private college at a price less than today's costs, but the IRS refuses to recognize them as qualified plans. Therefore, they do not have the tax and other benefits that state pre-paid tuition plans have. My proposal requires the IRS to recognize independent pre-paid tuition plans, thus enabling parents to invest in them tax-free.

matrix: Would your administration play a role in shaping opportunities available in higher education, such as by providing increased funding for certain medical school programs, loan forgiveness for certain teachers, or the like?

gore: A key component of my education plan is creating opportunities in higher education. I have committed to recruiting and supporting 1 million of the 2.2 million teachers that we must hire over the next decade through new "21st Century Teachers Corps," and expanded loan-forgiveness opportunities. Under my teacher corps proposal, if a student agrees to spend four years teaching in a school that needs their help, and if they pass a rigorous exam before they set foot in the classroom, my administration will give them each up to $10,000 to pay for college. I will also strengthen the Clinton-Gore "AmeriCorps Program" which has allowed 250,000 Americans to earn $400 million for college while serving their communities.

bush: I recognize the unique role teaching hospitals play not only in the training of our medical students, but also in the care of patients. Many times, teaching hospitals are located in medically under served, urban areas and are the only source of medical care for many people. I believe the Graduate Medical Education program is a worthwhile function of federal government. In addition, to help teachers I will expand loan forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,500 for teachers who choose to teach math or science in high-needs schools.