1. U.N. Treaty on Children's Rights.
Will you actively oppose U.S. Senate ratification of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child?
Bachmann - Yes
Comments: "I will do much more than that. I have already announced that as
president, I will remove the United States as a signatory of the United
Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is a very dangerous
international treaty that puts decision-making power regarding the
"best interests of the child" into the hands of government instead of
parents. This treaty would federalize all of our state laws regarding
children to bring them into compliance with international law under the
United Nations; it must be stopped."
Gingrich - Yes
Miller - Yes
Comments: "The United States Federal government was created to protect and
defend the U.S. Constitution, our individual States and the American
people. Global treaties like these are designed to weaken our Constitution, our trust in our Creator and to bring us closer to a one world governing body. As an example; this treaty contains a legally binding, non-negotiable set of standards and obligations that would override our Constitution and our laws. American citizens and our Country have been neglected by our elected officials for years under the guise of doing what is best for the rest of the world, rather than for us. It is time for some American self-preservation and internal restoration so that we can once again be a world leader of example, not global intervention."
Perry - Yes
Comments: "Empowering any international organization to set global social policy undermines the rights of nations, states, communities, and individual parents and families. The UN Rights of the Child could restrict and dictate radical social policy to American families."
Santorum - Yes
Snyder - Yes
Comments: "I will uphold that our Constitution must supersede all contracts and
treaties with foreign agents which seek to bind our citizens under their
jurisdictions without acknowledgement and representation. Part
of my platform is my plan to counter the past efforts of the executive
branch to circumvent the Constitution through adherence with
international treaties. This particular U.N. treaty is a “feel good”
declaration that accomplishes nothing other than to tell the world that
treating children badly is… bad. I have no problem with defending the
world’s children against people who would use kids as soldiers, guinea
pigs, or pawns. That declaration can be made, however, without
jeopardizing the sovereignty of the United States or the rights of her
citizens to raise their children as they see fit."
Wuensche - Yes
2. Parental Rights Amendment*.
Will you support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that
guarantees parents the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of
their children?
*The
Parental Rights Amendment, which had 149 co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate
and House of Representatives during the 111th Congress, will soon be
reintroduced in the 112th Congress.
Bachmann - Yes
Comments: "Yes, I am an original co-sponsor in Congress of the Parental Rights
Amendment. Our rights as parents are God-given, but are being
systematically chipped away by domestic courts and threatened by
international law. I support protecting this fundamental right of
parents by stating it explicitly in the text of our Constitution."
Gingrich - Yes
Miller - Yes
Comments: "We need to restore the family unit as God intended it to be
without the interference or control of our Federal government..."
Perry - Yes
Santorum - Yes
Snyder - Yes
Comments: "I believe that if our nation’s founders could see what has become of
our moral fabric in the last 200+ years, they’d be devastated. If they
could have foreseen the efforts that have been made by the Progressive
Movement to attack the freedoms of our citizens, they would have
specifically identified even the most basic, fundamental rights within
the wording of the Constitution in order to prevent them from being
dismantled and eliminated by those who think they know better how to
live our lives than we do. It is shameful that it has come to
this, but it has come to this. If it is necessary to create an amendment
to the Constitution in order to protect our fundamental rights from
attacks that would have been inconceivable 200 years ago, then an
amendment to the Constitution we shall have."
Wuensche - Yes
3. Federal Role in Education.
What do you believe is the federal government's role in education?
Bachmann: "The federal government has no Constitutional jurisdiction over
education. Under the Tenth Amendment, education is a state issue. One of
my first actions as president will be to repeal federal education laws,
including abolishing the federal Department of Education, returning
money and control over education to the states, localities and parents."
Gingrich: "My administration will shrink the federal Department of Education and
return power to states and communities. The Department's only role will
be to collect research and data, and help find new and innovative
approaches to then be adopted voluntarily at the local level."
Miller: "The Federal government should not have any role in educating our children; this is a family and
State issue."
Perry: "The federal government does not belong in most areas of public education. Education is a state and local responsibility, and as president I will pursue a path that drives as much education decision-making as possible to the local level.
I will free states from No Child Left Behind and eliminate Obama's Race to the Top grant program. Unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups in Washington, D.C. will no longer have the ability to control what our children learn and how our teachers teach. Under my presidency, future federal funding for education will be returned to states in the form of block grants. States should be free to distribute these funds in the manner that best fits the circumstances facing the children in each state."
Santorum: "Education is the responsibility of the consumer, the parent. As home
schooling parents, my wife and I know that the needs of each child
vary. Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and
education of their children with local school systems supporting, as
desired. The federal role in education is very limited. The President
can inspire toward educational excellence and personalization of
learning. The federal government's role is limited to supporting civil
rights protections such as IDEA, enabling essential research, and
promoting equality of opportunity where needed."
Snyder: "There are some who believe the Federal Government should not have any
role in education. As a former teacher, I believe that the
privatization of the education system would be a catastrophe. There is
nothing that creates a separation of classes quite like privatized
education. As much of a failure as the No Child Left Behind program has
been, privatized education would create an Only The Poor Children Left
Behind situation.
Our current system is a great system that is
being poorly implemented. There will always be a demand from the wealthy
for private education, and they will have it. The rest of us must rely
on a system that does not encourage children to learn or teachers to
teach.
The federal role of government should be to assist in the
funding of building schools and paying faculties, and the creation of a
reasonable standardized curriculum which tends to create the highest
degree of success among our nation’s graduates. A child that graduates
from a high school in Belen, NM should be able to expect an education
that will be comparable to that of a child graduating in Miami, FL.
Local governments should have the most power to decide their schools’
curriculum beyond the federal standards. If curriculum were left
strictly to the local governments, it isn’t hard to see that individual
districts might inadvertently limit their own children to working solely
within those districts after graduating, as they may not acquire the
type of education necessary to exist outside of the area where they were
raised."
Wuensche - "The Federal Government should have virtually no role in education."
4. Education Reform.
What, if anything, should be done to improve education in the United States, and at what level?
Bachmann: "Parental choice is essential. Our children are loaned to us by God
and He has given us as parents the responsibility for their upbringing.
We can't do that if we are not in control. Homeschooling needs to be
deregulated because homeschoolers are the model of excellence in
education! We homeschooling parents have proved ourselves highly
successful. The same is true of private education. Public education
needs to return to the basic academic subjects, not the social
engineering that is steeped in politically correct but Biblically
incorrect indoctrination. I support intelligent design being taught
alongside evolution in public school classrooms and I put feet to that
by coauthoring a bill in Minnesota to require public schools to include
alternative explanations for the origin of life as part of the public
school science curricula. All education reform must be done at the
local level, by the parents and schools directly involved in the child's
education. I was an initiator of education reform in Minnesota for
years, first as a homeschooling mom and charter school founder, and
later with children in Christian school and foster children in public
school. I've done it all, and I know what works."
Gingrich: "If America is going to remain competitive with China and India in the
21st century, then we must commit to improving education, especially in
math and science, and moving from a bureaucrat-dominated status quo to
an innovative system that emphasizes accountability, transparency, and
parental choice.
First and foremost, we must empower parents to
pick the right school for their child. Parents had the right to choose
the school that is best for their child, and should never be trapped in a
failing school against their will. I have long been a vocal proponent
of a “Pell Grant-style system for Kindergarten through 12th Grade.”
Per-pupil school district funding could go into each child’s backpack,
and follow them to the school their parents wish to attend. Parents who
home school their children should receive a tax credit or be allowed to
keep the Pell Grant. We should demand more accountability in the
classroom, and remove restrictions on the creation of more charter
schools.
I also believe it is essential to restore American
history and values into the classroom. America is a learned civilization
and every American, including immigrants, should learn American history
and the principles of American self-government, productivity and
prosperity. It is my hope that states and municipalities will emphasize
American civilization in their classrooms."
Miller: "We must remove the secular, homosexual agenda from within our schools and publicly embrace the Judeo-Christian foundation that we were built upon. Next, we must remove the Federal government, unions and politics from within the educational system. Then and only then can families and individual States begin to create a functioning and productive education system that among other priorities, teaches our children real mathematics, real economics, real law and real history."
Perry: "There are dedicated parents and teachers who are working hard every day to make sure that their children and students learn what they need to know to be successful. However, continued interference from Washington, D.C. bureaucrats and special interest groups have limited the ability of states to adapt to our nation's changing circumstances. A lack of flexibility and adherence to one-size-fits-all federal mandates leads to the inefficient use of resources and suppresses local innovation in our schools.
I have long supported parental choice, including a parent's right to choose private school or home school for their children. Parental choice will make pubic schools better through the accountability that comes with competition for students and taxpayer-funded resources."
Santorum: "Education is the responsibility of parents, local schools (private
and public), and states in that order. Reforms should be focused on
expanding consumer choice in private and public education, attracting
the best teachers to be competitive as a nation, and rewarding
excellence, innovation, and personalizing to the needs of individual
students rather than governments or unions. Local schools and states
should expand online learning options and lift any caps on charter
schools as well."
Snyder: "There is a cycle that exists in our society today. Poor parenting
leads to bad attitudes in children. A bad attitude toward education
often results in a low GPA high school diploma. The attitude carries on,
poor decisions are made, and this person is likely to have a low-income
job and become a parent long before their wages can hope to support a
family. In turn, this leads to poor parenting. The cycle manifests
itself in poverty, teenage pregnancy, drug use, and other social issues.
A
30 minute academic success training session at the beginning of each day
starting in perhaps 2nd grade could begin to teach children the
fundamentals of education: importance of getting an education, how to
behave in school, address problems with other students, talk to teachers
respectfully, and ways to succeed in school.
By 6th grade, kids
could learn about addressing problems with teachers and other adults,
the importance of getting good grades- not just passing, cultural
diversity, time management, and personal responsibility.
Middle
school is often a difficult time. It's a great time to address self
esteem, abstract thought, hygiene, self control, honor, valor, courtesy,
and discipline.
We‘ve tried programs aimed at getting high
school kids to stay in school, but we’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
We can't just put up fences, bribe kids with college credits, and
entice them with power tools and airplanes. We’ve tried and failed. We
fail because our goal is to lower the drop-out rate. Our goal should be
for kids to succeed. Define success. Government succeeds by when kids
graduate - not good enough. People succeed by attaining spiritual
enlightenment, building personal relationships, and accumulating and
managing wealth. That’s what kids want; that’s what parents want. We’re
in a position to give them the tools to help, but all we’re teaching
them is grammar, history, trig, and social studies. Yes, these subjects
may come in handy some day, but the truth is, for most people, they
won’t ever aid in success. Kids aren’t stupid. If we teach them things
that will help them grow and prosper, they’ll stay. High school sessions
need to introduce the basics of success in America-- money management,
decision-making, assets vs. liabilities, how credit cards work, how to
assemble study groups and other ways to succeed in college, leadership
skills, goal setting, work ethics, and how to nail a job interview. If
there’s time left, we can teach them the importance of being earnest."
Wuensche: "Eliminate the Department of Education and return all responsibility for
educating children to the individual sates. The President should use
the bully pulpit to encourage school choice in all the states. If school
choice were allowed the intelligence of consumers in our free market
system could be used in choosing their child's education. Technology,
creativity and individual instruction could be used in a variety of ways
to educate children. Educating children is the most important thing
America does as it is our future."
5. Educational Content.
Will you oppose any federal legislation or other federal efforts to
usurp the authority of the states, local boards of education, and
parents by requiring certain subject matters (e.g. sex education, gender
and sexual identity issues, and the so-called "Common Core Standards")
to be taught, or by otherwise directing the content of the curriculum
taught in public, private and/or home schools?
Bachmann - Yes
Comments: "Absolutely, I will oppose such legislation. I have a history of doing
that. In Minnesota, before I ever ran for office, Marcus and I had
homeschooled our 5 biological children, but were required by Minnesota
law to use public schools for our 23 foster children. When we saw what
was coming home in their backpacks, I helped launch a successful 5-year
statewide campaign to stop federal government intrusion into education.
After being elected to the Minnesota Senate, I continued that fight,
resulting in Minnesota becoming the only state at the time to repeal the
implementations of Goals 2000. This was no small feat as it required my
gaining support from both Democrats and Republicans in a
Democrat-dominated state. I continued to advocate for local control
while in the Minnesota Senate, and in Congress I have opposed federal
education mandates. The Common Core Standards, or Core Curriculum, as
well as the International Baccalaureate (both of which you now have here
in Iowa), are some of the more recent efforts to control how and what
our children think. Local schools need the freedom to teach critical
thinking skills and return to the type of education pursued by our
Founding Fathers. "
Gingrich - Yes
Comments: "The federal government should have no role in setting curricula."
Miller - Yes
Comments: "We are living with the consequences of a full generation of children
being controlled by the Federal government, career politicians and
secular bureaucrats along with the progressive ideologies and influences
of the United Nations. If we don’t return to our foundation, along with
the morals, values and beliefs that we were built upon, the sovereignty
of United States of America may well be destroyed from within before
the next generation graduates."
Perry - Yes
Santorum - Yes
Comments: "States may choose to adopt common core standards - but they should not be forced on states, private schools, or home schools."
Snyder - Yes
Comments: "Sex Education: I believe that the only information that would be
beneficial to students regarding sex ed, is the immediate and life-time
cost of having a baby during one’s teenage years. No other information
regarding sexual relations is relevant or necessary during primary or
secondary education years. By the time our kids hit high school, they’re
already well aware of what goes where and why. If anything needs to be
known beyond that, they’re welcome to pursue the science of it in
biology class or in post-secondary courses.
Gender and Sexual
Identity Issues: These are either advanced biological or psychological
areas of study that again have no relevance or necessity prior to
college level education. If these characteristics are to be considered
natural and normal, then there is no need to explain them. If they are
abnormal, then they are biological or psychological issues beyond the
scope of required secondary education."
Wuensche - Yes
Comments: "NO federal, state or local government should be able to preempt
parents' role in educating their children. If school choice were
implemented this would be virtually guaranteed as the option on how and
where to educate their children would be their own."
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