Obama: Ryan’s economic plan costly to education

Obama warned voters about Ryan’s plans to cut back on Pell Grants.

President Barack Obama is highlighting various sections of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s sweeping budget proposals as he tries to paint the GOP ticket as too extreme for the nation. Next up in his analysis: education.

On Aug. 21, Obama plans to tell voters in sharply contested Ohio that Ryan’s budget proposal would cut $115 billion from the federal Education Department, remove 2 million children from Head Start programs, and cost 1 million college students their Pell Grants over the next decade. The line of criticism will be coupled with television ads.

Obama’s latest line of criticism was described by Democratic officials involved in the plan. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the strategy before the president began executing it, which he planned to do at Capital University in Columbus and continue later in the day during a stop at a community college in Reno, Nev.…Read More

Paul Ryan on education policy: vouchers, for-profit colleges, local control

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) talks a lot about scaling back the reach of the federal government, but back in 2001, he voted in favor of No Child Left Behind, the signature education program of the George W. Bush administration that gave unprecedented power to the U.S. Education Department to tell states and districts what they had to do to get federal funds, reports The Washington Post.

Ryan, who presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney just tapped to be his vice presidential running mate, has obviously changed his mind. Today his website says: Rather than relying on the federal government to ensure that students are given the capability to fulfill their potential, education ought to be governed by state and local boards more ably qualified to determine student need.

Ryan, as chairman of the House Budget Committee, has authored a budget proposal that calls for deep cuts in federal spending, including in public education.…Read More

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