(from CER’s 2008 Education Reform Voter’s BLOG)

In response to our Candidate Scorecard released earlier this week to assess the degree to which candidates for the U.S. Senate support education reform, we have received a landslide of commentary from across the great state of Colorado suggesting that we were too hard on Bob Schaffer. Citing his strong record as a school choice advocate, the role he played in the formation of Colorado’s original charter school law, and the fact that “all five of his children have been educated in charter schools,” many have gone so far as to demand that we revise our scoring in his case and “correct your mistake in a public forum.” First, a quick overview of the facts:

The Center for Education Reform gave candidate Schaffer a 6 out of a possible score of 9. His opponent, Mark Udall, received a 3 out of 9. To be clear, candidate Schaffer received a perfect 3 out of 3 for his reform-minded position on school choice and another perfect 3 out of 3 for his strong stance on the charter school program. As Jeanne Allen, the president and founder of the Center has written in some personal correspondence on this issue “I’m happy to reiterate to anyone that Bob Schaffer is a great supporter of school choice and the U.S. Senate would be lucky to have him.”

This said, The Center for Education Reform did not give Schaffer its highest marks based on his stance on NCLB. This is important because NCLB is important. On 12/13/01, according to Roll Call 497, Schaffer voted “No” to the House agreement to NCLB. Schaffer was one of only 41 Representatives to vote No. According to our Scorecard methodology, a simple vote for or against garners a possible 3 points. On NCLB, his vote against earned Schaffer a zero.

In this last week before the election next Tuesday, The Center for Education Reform looks forward to seeing Senator Schaffer in Washington next year and to working with him to support the reauthorization of NCLB and to further expanding his reputation as a real reformer.

(for more insight and commentary on races for Governor, State Education Chief and U.S. Senate around the country, visit CER’s Education Reform 2008: A Voter’s Blog)