Bob Dole's Vision for Education

Robert Joseph “Bob” Dole, born in 1923 in Russell, Kansas, served his home state in Congress for many years. He was a Representative in 1960 and a Senator in 1968. Later in life, he spoke movingly of the hunger he witnessed growing up during the Depression. His experiences shaped his commitment to public service and his understanding of the challenges faced by many Americans. Dole's education policy was characterized by a desire to empower parents, promote local control, and ensure that students received a quality education that prepared them for the challenges of the 21st century.

Early Life and Career

Dole's journey began in Russell, Kansas, where he excelled as a high school athlete. He briefly attended the University of Kansas before enlisting in the United States Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942 during World War II. His service in the Army was cut short when he was seriously wounded in April 1945, while engaged in combat near Castel d'Aiano in the Apennine mountains southwest of Bologna, Italy, by a German shell that struck his upper back and right arm, shattering his collarbone and part of his spine. He was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster for heroic achievement. After a long recovery, Dole continued his college studies and earned a B.A. and LL.B.

Dole's political career began in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1950. He served as county attorney for Russell County before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1960. In 1968, he was elected to the Senate, where he became a prominent voice on issues ranging from agriculture to Social Security reform.

Dole's Approach to Education Reform

Bob Dole believed that education reform was essential to building a better America. He recognized that many schools were failing to adequately prepare students for the future. His educational philosophy emphasized empowering parents, promoting local control, and reducing federal interference in schools.

Emphasis on Local Control

Dole was a strong advocate for local control of schools. He believed that decisions about education should be made at the state and local levels, rather than by the federal government. In his view, communities were best equipped to understand the unique needs of their students and schools.

School Choice and Opportunity Scholarships

A central tenet of Dole's education policy was school choice. He believed that parents should have the opportunity to choose the best schools for their children, regardless of their income or zip code.

In July of an unspecified year, Dole announced a $2.5 billion initiative called "Opportunity Scholarships for Children." This initiative was designed to provide low- and middle-income families with the financial means to send their children to private schools. Patterned after the GI Bill and Pell grants, the initiative aimed to create a cooperative federal, state, and local effort to promote school choice.

The plan proposed four-year, competitive grants to children from low- and middle-income families in up to 15 states, including the District of Columbia. The scholarships would be at least $1,000 per child in elementary school and $1,500 per child in high school. States could supplement these amounts if they chose to do so.

Dole's program also advocated scholarships, or vouchers, for students from middle-class and poor families that could be spent at private schools, including parochial schools. His reasoning was that poorer students often attend the worst public schools because they cannot afford private schools or good suburban schools.

The Dole plan included education savings accounts that would have allowed families to contribute $500 a year to an "education individual retirement account" for each child, which could be spent eventually on college or other post-high school education.

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Critique of Federal Involvement

Dole was critical of what he saw as unnecessary federal interference in education. He believed that federal policies often stifled innovation and imposed a one-size-fits-all approach that did not work for all communities.

As a senator, Dole voted against creating the Department of Education in 1979. He generally opposed amendments to increase federal education spending, especially later in his Senate career. He also opposed the Clinton administration's education agenda in 1993 and 1994, including the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, and the AmeriCorps national-service program.

Focus on Academic Excellence

Dole believed that academic excellence should be the primary goal of education. He criticized what he saw as a focus on "politically correct fads" at the expense of basic academic subjects. In a speech in Minneapolis, Dole deplored the state of public education, linking liberal educational philosophies and President Clinton to falling test scores, rising dropout and crime rates, and “all this politically correct nonsense.”

He specifically criticized the "whole language" approach to reading instruction, which he believed had damaged California schools. He argued that schools should focus on teaching phonics and ensuring that students have a firm grounding in basic skills.

Dole also derided “some schools” for no longer holding spelling bees for fear of damaging the self-esteem of losers.

Collaboration with Senator McGovern

Despite their political differences, Dole found common ground with Democratic Senator George McGovern on the issue of hunger and poverty. Together, they worked to revive and strengthen global school-feeding, nutrition, and education programs.

The McGovern-Dole Program

Senators McGovern and Dole began working toward reviving and strengthening global school feeding, nutrition and education programs, recognizing that hungry children have difficulty learning, and malnutrition often leads to permanently stunted physical and cognitive development. As many as 300 million children are chronically malnourished due to the cycle of hunger and poverty. Traditionally, young girls in many developing countries are often kept out of school to work in the home performing childcare, elder care, and other domestic chores, or are sent out to earn a living.

President Bill Clinton supported the senators’ initiative and, in July 2000, his administration established a two-year pilot program, the Global Food for Education Initiative (GFEI), funded at $300 million. Department of Agriculture provided surplus agricultural commodities to school feeding programs operated by international organizations including the U.N. School enrollment increased as a result of the GFEI, particularly for girls.

With the strong support and urging of Senators Dole and McGovern, Congress passed legislation establishing a permanent international school feeding program. President George W. This hallmark effort fed millions of children in schools across the globe in 41 countries.

The success of the McGovern-Dole Program encouraged development leaders to renew their interest in and support for school feeding. School feeding was highlighted in the U.N. Millennium Project’s ten key recommendations for achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. With increased funding, the U.N. World Food Programme’s global school feeding initiative - the world’s largest such program - reached more than 20 million children in 74 countries in 2006.

The McGovern-Dole Program has had a wide impact by reigniting global interest in supporting school feeding, which had become a relatively low international priority by the 1990s. Leaders of various international organizations cited the McGovern-Dole Program as the key factor that allowed organizations to increase their school feeding operations and also assess the impact of those programs. For the millions of children it has touched in the past, and the millions who will benefit in the future, the McGovern-Dole Program and other collaborative school-feeding initiatives showed it’s possible to break the cycle of hunger and poverty and provide life-altering opportunities through education and improved health. For their extraordinary work together, Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole were awarded the 2008 World Food Prize.

The 1996 Presidential Campaign

In 1996, Bob Dole ran for president as the Republican nominee. Education was a key issue in the campaign, with Dole seeking to differentiate himself from President Bill Clinton on the issue.

Clash with Clinton's Education Policies

Dole criticized Clinton for being too closely aligned with teachers' unions and the education establishment. He argued that Clinton's policies fostered unnecessary federal interference in schools and promoted "politically correct fads."

Dole attacked the controversial first version of the model national history standards and supported a House amendment that would allow states to deny the children of illegal immigrants a publicly supported education.

Conservative vs. Moderate Stance

Observers noted that Dole's campaign was undecided about the direction of his education platform, reflecting a broader debate about the overall direction of his candidacy. Some conservatives urged Dole to embrace more conservative themes, such as vouchers and eliminating the Department of Education. However, others cautioned that such a strategy could alienate moderate voters and make Dole look ineffectual.

Some Republicans admitted that President Clinton had the upper hand rhetorically on education, given his high-profile work on the issue as a governor and the unpopularity of recent GOP proposals to cut education spending.

Campaign Rhetoric

In a speech in Minneapolis, Dole sought to frame education as a key reason why real wages had been stagnant in recent years. He argued that despite the nation's high level of spending on education, public schools were failing to adequately prepare students for the challenges of the modern economy.

Dole also vowed to create a "clearinghouse" in the Justice Department's civil rights division to help school districts defend their strict disciplinary codes. He criticized education experts who objected to basic standards of discipline in the name of "children's rights."

Economic Policies and Education

Dole recognized that investments in human capital were essential to robust long-term growth in modern economies. His economic plan included education savings accounts and initiatives to stop and roll back the rapid growth in regulations.

Dole's economic plan aimed to unleash skills by reducing high taxes and excessive regulations. He believed that powerful changes in incentives could have powerful effects on behavior.

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