DES MOINES, Iowa — Democrat Joe Biden unveiled an education plan Wednesday that would provide free preschool to every child and bonuses to teachers who work in poor neighborhoods.
The presidential candidate said the U.S. education system needs an overhaul because its students are lagging behind their peers in other countries. He cited recent test results from the Program for International Student Assessment that showed U.S. students’ scores in math and science were lower than the average of the 30 countries involved in the study.
“The numbers are very disturbing,” Biden told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “But we’ve known this. We’re not investing in our kids the way we should.”
Biden, a Delaware senator, estimated his plan would cost $30 billion annually. He would pay for it by reducing defense spending and not renewing tax cuts for the wealthy.
About $5 billion would be spent on adding two years of preschool to the public education system. Biden also supports incentives for districts to either lengthen the school year or the school day by a negotiable amount of time.
If elected, Biden said he would overhaul No Child Left Behind. He said he wants a system that offers more flexibility in evaluating student performance.
Denver Post wire services
