I found these quotes from Sarah Palin on the issues of education and special needs:- You mentioned education and I’m glad you did. I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. We have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It’s not doing the job though. We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind. We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching. My kids as public school participants right now, it’s near and dear to my heart. (Palin/Biden debate)
- It is our energy development that pays for essential services, like education. Victor Hugo said, “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” It’s a privileged obligation we have to “open education doors.” Every child, of every ability, is to be cherished and loved and taught. Every child provides this world hope. They are the most beautiful ingredient in our sometimes muddied up world. I am committed to our children and their education. (State of the State Address to the 25th Alaska Legislature Jan 15, 2008)
- I’ve also committed to help provide local school districts with more predictability, for better planning by supporting “early funding of education.” I’ll introduce a separate education appropriation bill and ask that it’s passed. Our local school districts deserve to know what they have to work with early enough for them to create efficiencies through planning. (State of the State Address to the 24th Alaska Legislature Jan 17, 2007)
- The State should target early education programs to specific at-risk groups that truly need them. These groups will benefit from access to high-quality programs currently out of their reach. We must find a way for these children to obtain a safe and positive environment in their early years. Today, social & economic pressures sometimes encourage both parents to return to work outside the home. My administration will publish useful educational material for parents about children in their early years. (Palin-Parnell campaign booklet: New Energy for Alaska Nov 3, 2006)
- I believe we need to respect families and provide greater access to curricula and programs that teach ethics and character. The ABC method is a local program that depends strongly on these principles. ABC students have nightly homework, back to basics curriculum, patriotism, ethics and citizenship training. Programs such as ABC have core principles of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship. (Palin-Parnell campaign booklet: New Energy for Alaska Nov 3, 2006)
- OK, good. Because another thing that we’ll talk about also is the role that I will play that is very near and dear to my heart. And that’s helping families with special needs children and being able to strengthen our National Institute of Health also and find cures for presently incurable diseases. (2008 Fox News interview on “Hannity & Colmes” Sep 17, 2008)
Sarah Palin's actions appear to conflict with her words. In five of the quotes above, she professes her commitment to education and special needs, but her recent opposition to federal funds seems to be at odds with such a commitment.
I included quote number 5 because I tought it was funny. "programs that teach ethics and character" and "trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship" sound hilarious coming from Sarah Palin!
The quotes can be found here and here.
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