Thursday, September 11, 2008

DEBATE VIDEO: Hulshof vs. Nixon on Education

Jay Nixon and Kenny Hulshof also debated their higher education plans during the 75-minute debate at the University of Missouri. Hulshof criticized Nixon's plan for "pushing kids" towards community colleges. Watch the exchange above, and then Nixon's response to Hulshof's critique after the debate. Nixon said that Hulshof apparently doesn't understand his plan, because it is meant to give a pathway for a student to move from a 2-year school to a 4-year institution.

***PLUS: Gov. Blunt's office responds to the Nixon campaigns criticism of the MOHELA sale . . . "Had Jay Nixon's opposition to a comprehensive higher education package succeeded, it would have killed two reforms," said Rich Chrismer, referring to the Access Missouri scholarship program and tuition controls.

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"Gov. Blunt's Lewis & Clark Initiative was an innovative solution to increasing funding for higher education without new spending or a tax increase," Chrismer said. "Jay Nixon has proposed hundreds of millions of dollars in new big government spending for welfare and other government programs, yet when asked earlier this week by KY3 where he would cut spending, Nixon could not answer the question," he added.


In their sparring over K-12 education, Hulshof noted that Missouri only graduated 1 high school physics teacher last year. He wants to focus on recruiting more teachers in math and sciences. Nixon called for "reinventing the senior year of high school," but he was most passionate when expressing his fierce opposition to private vouchers.

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