The 2012 presidential election is less than 50 days away! During the next two months, it might be easy to confuse facts with rumors and to not fully understand where the candidates stand on education issues that affect students with learning disabilities (LD). NCLD wants you to be an informed voter on November 6th. However, the facts can be hard to come by, and being an informed voter is often easier said than done. Just as your child has to do their homework, it’s time for you to do yours by learning what each candidate has to say about education policies that impact your child at school. Luckily, NCLD has done a lot of the research for you.

Our election 2012 page is a tool that will show you where President Obama and Governor Romney stand on education issues that may impact students with LD—from early literacy screening to standardized testing, to the implementation of common core standards and the reforming of No Child Left Behind.

Despite this information, it can still be hard to pinpoint where the two stand on education reforms. Candidates tend to make long speeches and gloss over positions, and school choice can be a particularly confusing issue to decipher. Did you know that both President Obama and Governor Romney are in favor of creating charter schools? President Obama has called charter schools “incubators of innovation,” and Governor Romney plans to “expand school choice in an unprecedented way.” The candidates do, though, have opposing positions on school vouchers, another crucial issue for students with learning disabilities.

This is a key time in education reform. No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization, and Congress is looking at ways to cut education funding—including funds that support how schools provide services to students with disabilities and other struggling learners. What’s certain is that the 2012 election will impact students with LD, and your vote can make a difference in what happens next! Visit our election page to learn more about the education issues at stake and the impact of a vote in your state.