School choice. Charter schools. Vouchers. Standardized tests. Early childhood education. Accountability. Merit pay for teachers.
When it comes to addressing the toughest issues in public education, the lines that divide Democratic nominee Barack Obama and presumptive Republican contender John McCain are very clear.
Yet, education policy, for the most part, has taken a back seat in a presidential campaign dominated by talk of the war in Iraq and the sagging economy.
With too many failing schools, especially in struggling urban districts with too few alternatives, education deserves a more prominent place in this campaign.
Consider the staggering statistics: Nationally, about 30 percent of students drop out of high school. In Philadelphia and Camden, the number is closer to 50 percent.
Minority students across the country continue to lag behind their white counterparts and typically attend low-performing schools often plagued with a culture of violence and low expectations.
Among the unfinished business facing whoever becomes the next president is fixing the No Child Left Behind law, which has been stalled in Congress.
The largely unpopular law set unattainable and unrealistic standardized-test benchmarks in math and language arts for students at every grade level, which are supposed to be met by 2014.
Yet, No Child Left Behind has received only passing mention by the presidential candidates.
Both McCain and Obama agree that the 2001 law, which holds each school accountable for its students' performance, must be fixed before it is reauthorized by Congress. But neither candidate has put forth a comprehensive plan that explains how he would do that.
Critics say No Child Left Behind forces teachers to spend too much time "teaching to the test" and unfairly imposes sanctions on schools that fail to improve.
McCain has pushed school choice - charters and vouchers - saying competition is the best way to improve failing public schools, especially in urban districts where minority students are more likely to drop out before receiving a high school diploma.
The Republican supports a controversial plan to expand a scholarship program in the District of Columbia that gives vouchers to poor students to attend private schools. McCain has proposed increasing funding for the program from $13 million to $20 million annually.
Obama has strongly opposed using federal funds to pay for private-school vouchers.
