Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria are listed last.

Pro (Yes)

Con (No)

Clinton, Hillary (D) - Con Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator (D-NY), stated in a July 6, 1999 article titled "NEA Representative Assembly Closes with Infusion of Energy and Resolve" on the National Education Association website: "What they (vouchers) have done is to divert public funds for a few and weaken an entire system." July 6, 1999 Hillary Clinton

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Gravel, Mike (Lib) - Pro Mike Gravel, former U.S. Senator (D-AK), in a July 11, 2007 radio interview with Mike Malloy on Nova-M Radio Network, stated: "...I have no problem with vouchers in education. I think we need competition in education." July 11, 2007 Mike Gravel

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Keyes, Alan (Ind) - Pro Alan Keyes, former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State, stated in an Oct. 26, 2004 debate sponsored by WTTW and the City Club of Chicago: "We have the wherewithal and, in addition to everything else, if we adopted a proper voucher program, we would equalize the scandalous inequities in education that occur in Illinois because of the funding mechanism that leaves some kids stuck in poor districts. Give every parent the same amount that they'll be able to spend on their child, and you can bet, in faith schools and parochial schools and other, non-government schools, they'll be able to get better results for less money than we're getting right now." Oct. 26, 2004 Alan Keyes

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McCain, John (R) - Pro John McCain, U.S. Senator (R-AZ), stated at the Dec. 9, 2007 Republican Presidential Debate in Coral Gables, FL: "Choice and competition is the key to success in education in America. That means charter schools, that means home schooling, it means vouchers, it means rewarding good teachers and finding bad teachers another line of work...It means rewarding good performing schools, and it really means in some cases putting bad performing schools out of business." Dec. 9, 2007 John McCain

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	McKinney, Cynthia (Grn) - None Found
	ProCon.org emailed the McKinney campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.

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Nader, Ralph (Ind) - Con Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, was quoted in an article titled "Major Players: The 2000 Presidential Candidates," posted on the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University website (accessed Apr. 9, 2008) "Vouchers unacceptably erode the democratic foundation of public education and the role of public education in establishing our democratic foundations." Apr. 9, 2008 Ralph Nader

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	Obama, Barack (D) - Now Not Clearly Pro or Con
Barack Obama, U.S. Senator (D-IL), in a Feb. 13, 2008 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article titled "Obama Addresses State, U.S. Topics," stated: "If there was any argument for vouchers, it was 'Let's see if the experiment works'...And if it does, whatever my preconception, you do what's best for kids." Feb. 13, 2008 Barack Obama

Obama, Barack (D) - Con [Editor's Note: Prior to Barack Obama's Feb. 13, 2008 Not Clearly Pro or Con position, his position was Con as indicated in his July 10, 2007 statement in the American Federation of Teachers' "2008 U.S. Presidential Candidate Questionnaire" below.] "We need to invest in our public schools and strengthen them, not drain their fiscal support. And for this reason I do not support vouchers. In the end, vouchers would reduce the options available to children in need. I fear these children would truly be left behind in a private market system." July 10, 2007 Barack Obama

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Paul, Ron (R) - Con Ron Paul, U.S. Representative (R-TX), stated in a Sep. 30, 2003 "Speech of Hon. Ron Paul of Texas in the House of Representatives" in the Congressional Record on the Library of Congress, THOMAS website: "Mr. Speaker, many of those who share my belief that the most effective education reform is to put parents back in charge of the education system have embraced government-funded voucher programs as a means to that end. I certainly sympathize with the goals of voucher proponents and I believe that States and local governments have the right, protected by the Tenth Amendment, to adopt any sort of voucher program they believe meets the needs of their communities. However, I have a number of concerns regarding proposals to implement a voucher plan on the Federal level. The basic reason supporters of parental control of education should view Federal voucher programs with a high degree of skepticism is that vouchers are a creation of the government, not the market. Vouchers are a taxpayer-funded program benefiting a particular group of children selected by politicians and bureaucrats. Therefore, the Federal voucher program supported by many conservatives is little more than another tax-funded welfare program establishing an entitlement to a private school education. Vouchers thus raise the same constitutional and moral questions as other transfer programs." Sep. 30, 2003 Ron Paul

CANDIDATES WHO HAVE WITHDRAWN OR WHO NO LONGER MEET OUR CRITERIA      Biden, Joe (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 3, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Brownback, Sam (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Oct. 19, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Dodd, Chris (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 3, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Edwards, John (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 30, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Gilmore, Jim (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Aug. 14, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Giuliani, Rudy (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 30, 2008; no position found as of that date Top    Huckabee, Mike (R) - Con Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, stated in a Dec. 28, 2007 article titled "Exclusive Interview: Huckabee on Education and School Choice" on CNSNews.com: "I don't support federally mandating vouchers. If a state wishes to implement a voucher program, they have to decide how it works, and how well it works, and what the criteria would be. What I don't want to do is to have the federal government coming down and telling all 50 states here is how you are going to fund education, here is what vouchers are going to look like. Because in some states, for example mine, it would be very problematic to create a statewide voucher system when most of our schools are rural, they're small, they are miles from another school, the economies of scale simply wouldn't necessarily make it that easy to implement a widespread voucher system. But if local districts wished to do it, if states wish to do it, I think that's fine. It goes back to the basic concept that this is a state's decision." Dec. 28, 2007 Mike Huckabee Top      Hunter, Duncan (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 19, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Imperato, Daniel (3rd/I) - None Found ProCon.org emailed the Imperato campaign on Jan. 21, 2008 with this question. Mr. Imperato provided a response to this question and 26 others during a recorded 45-minute telephone interview with ProCon.org on Mar. 11, 2008. On Mar. 21, 2008 Mr. Imperato no longer met our eligibility criteria for inclusion on this site, and we stopped transcribing his verbal responses as of that date.   Top    Kubby, Steve (3rd/I) - Con Steve Kubby, a Libertarian candidate and founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, stated in a Feb. 22, 2008 email to ProCon.org: "No. The Constitution doesn't delegate any role in education to the federal government at all." Feb. 22, 2008 Steve Kubby Top      Kucinich, Dennis (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 25, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      McEnulty, Frank (3rd/I) - Not Clearly Pro or Con Frank McEnulty, an Independent candidate and President of Our Castle Homes, in a Feb. 28, 2008 email to ProCon.org, stated: "Yes and no. The federal government should fund educational monies to the states and the states should determine how those monies should be spent without federal government interference. That being said, I believe that school voucher programs are an excellent way to give lower income students a chance at a better education and give some competition to the entrenched public school systems." Feb. 28, 2008 Frank McEnulty Top      Richardson, Bill (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 10, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Romney, Mitt (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Feb. 7, 2008; no position found as of that date Top    Smith, Christine (3rd/I) - Con Christine Smith, a Libertarian candidate and a social and political activist, stated in a Feb. 27, 2008 email to ProCon.org: "No." Feb. 27, 2008 Christine Smith Top      Tancredo, Tom (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Dec. 20, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Thompson, Fred (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 22, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Thompson, Tommy (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Sep. 12, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Vilsack, Tom (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Feb. 23, 2007; no position found as of that date

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