Joe Biden on on science education

Joe Biden for President : Strengthening Our Education System: Moving Toward A Sixteen Year System

Joe Biden would replace the 20th century 12-year school system with a 16-year system. He would start education earlier so that every parent who wants to can send their child to two years of preschool and make sure that students can afford at least two years of higher education.

As President, Joe Biden will add two years of pre-school to our public education system by:

* Fully funding Head Start and Early Head Start: Joe Biden would double the number of students in Head Start programs and quadruple the enrollment in Early Head Start. * Providing grants to states to expand high quality state-funded preschool programs: Building on the current groundswell of support for preschool across the states, Joe Biden would provide $5 billion in grants to states to expand high quality public preschool programs.

Extend Learning Time: In addition to extending the number of years of public education available to all students, Joe Biden supports states and districts that expand educational time either by extending school days or school schedules. Such programs encourage innovation in curriculum and provide students with more time for enrichment activities like art, music, drama and science. He would provide states and local districts with grants to assist in developing expanded educational time programs.

2. Support and Retain Our Teachers

Research has consistently shown that teachers are the single most important factor in determining how well a student performs in school, yet we can’t keep talented teachers in the classroom. Teacher attrition costs our schools $2 to $7 billion a year. Each year 270,000 of our 3.2 million public school teachers leave the field. Every school day, over 1,000 teachers leave the field for reasons other than retirement. Teachers leave for a wide range of reasons - from low pay to burn out. To support and retain our teachers Joe Biden would:

Improve teacher pay: The average starting salary of engineers is $53,000, while the average starting salary of a public school teacher is $32,000. To attract the best and brightest to teach our children, we have to pay them better. Joe Biden would:

* Provide bonuses to teachers who teach in high-need schools. * Provide new teachers with a bonus in exchange for a commitment to teach in the same school for five years. About half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years. The average starting salary of teachers is $32,000 a year. Joe Biden would increase the salaries of new teachers to provide the incentive to stay in the field - and in their schools -- by providing them with bonuses in exchange for a five- year commitment. * Provide incentives to reward professional development like National Board Certification. Joe Biden believes that teachers who have completed this rigorous, high quality, and effective certification process should be compensated in a manner fitting their new credential. He would supplement salaries of teachers who attained National Board Certification. * Assist teachers with student loan repayment. Joe Biden would help teachers defray the costs of education in exchange for a four-year commitment to teaching - particularly in a high need school.

Fund mentoring and induction programs: One of the best ways of supporting teachers is to provide them with on-going opportunities for professional development. Joe Biden believes that teachers deserve support from the very first day they begin teaching. When properly designed and implemented, mentoring and induction programs have been found to improve teacher performance and retention, while also providing experienced teachers with additional opportunities for advancement and increased pay.

3. Reduce Class SizeCreate a national initiative to reduce class size: Joe Biden would hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce the average class size to 18 students, particularly in the early grades. Students in small class sizes in kindergarten - 3rd grade are as much as half a year ahead of students from larger classes in reading, math and science by the time they get to 5th grade. Smaller classes will provide teachers with the resources they need to create the opportunities for learning that our students deserve. Joe Biden would provide $2 billion a year in grants to states and districts to help them hire more teachers and provide incentives to attract new teachers.