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In the first presidential debate Wednesday night, President Obama and Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney immediately dove into an often neglected topic on the campaign trail: educational activity.

The issue came up early and often, starting when both candidates mentioned education in their opening statements. Obama chosen for increased investment in public schools; Romney said the U.S. needs to have "the best schools in the earth."

Obama repeatedly hammered on the idea that he has supported instruction spending, while charging that Romney would reduce resource for schools in a quest to reduce the deficit. To emphasize his bespeak, Obama told the story of a Las Vegas teacher who had 42 students in her classroom for the first two weeks of schoolhouse and 10-twelvemonth-former textbooks to teach them with.

"That is non a recipe for growth," Obama said. "Budgets reverberate choices. And if nosotros're asking for no revenue, that ways we've got to get rid of a whole bunch of stuff. And the magnitude of the revenue enhancement cuts that you're talking about, Governor, would end up resulting in severe hardship for people, but more chiefly would not help us grow."

Romney rejected Obama's claim that he would cutting education spending by xx percent if elected – a figure extrapolated from his running mate Paul Ryan'due south proposed budget – and subtract aid for higher students. "I don't have whatsoever program to cut education funding and grants that go to people going to college," Romney said. "I'm not planning on making changes there."

In the past, Romney has discussed making the U.S. Section of Education a "heck of a lot smaller," although he has non specified what programs would be eliminated. During the debate, Romney called for getting rid of inefficient federal programs in all areas.

"I volition eliminate all programs by this test, if they don't pass it: Is the program and so critical information technology's worth borrowing money from Cathay to pay for it?" he said. Ane item on the chopping block would be federal subsidies to PBS, even though Romney said he loves Big Bird and likes the contend's moderator and PBS NewsHour host Jim Lehrer.

Obama countered that he has ended eighteen educational programs that were "well-intentioned [merely] weren't helping kids learn."

The bear on of teacher layoffs as well came up, as Obama suggested that Romney would preside over more reductions in the teaching force. Obama's stimulus package saved or created 250,000 teaching jobs, only there withal accept been hundreds of thousands of teachers laid off during his administration. Obama proposed an boosted $30 billion to save well-nigh 400,000 instructor jobs in 2011, simply the bill never passed. "Romney doesn't think we need more teachers. I do," Obama said. "That is an investment where the federal regime can aid. Information technology tin can't practise it all, simply information technology can brand a deviation."

Romney disagreed with that characterization. "I love slap-up schools," he said, noting that when he was governor of Massachusetts the land had the highest-ranked schoolhouse arrangement in the country. "And the key to great schools, great teachers. So I pass up the idea that I don't believe in great teachers or more teachers. Every schoolhouse district, every country should make that determination on their own."

Ane of the few ideas the candidates said they agreed on over the course of the night was Race to the Elevation, Obama's signature education programme that prompted 46 states to prefer education reforms in a competition for federal funds. The Democrats largely ignored the initiative at the Democratic National Convention, just Obama mentioned information technology iii times during the debate.

Romney said he agreed with "some" of the ideas in Race to the Top. Only he took the opportunity to promote his ain school choice platform, which would allow federal funds to follow special needs and low-income students to the school of their choice, whether public or private. There is no guarantee, however, that a school would take to accept them.

Obama tried to paint Romney as out of touch when it came to education, though, peculiarly higher education.

"Governor Romney, I genuinely believe cares about education," Obama said. "But when he tells a educatee that, you lot know, 'you should infringe money from your parents to go to college,' you know, that indicates the degree to which, y'all know, there may non be as much of a focus on the fact that folks like myself, folks like Michelle … just don't have that option."

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Sarah Butrymowicz oversees and contributes to The Hechinger Study'south investigative and data work covering all levels of didactics, from early childhood to K-12 to college education. She has worked at...