Democratic Senate candidate Josh Rales unleashed another barrage of TV ads Monday in the Baltimore and Washington region, this time two commercials touting the education plan he released last month.
Other candidates in the race have emphasized education, but Rales is the only Senate candidate bombarding the airwaves with the message.
Rales, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, is spending what some published reports have estimated as $1.8 million on the summer TV ads to boost his low name recognition. According to federal reports, Rales has put in more than $1.4 million of his own money to fund his first campaign for public office.
In the ads, as he does in campaign appearances, Rales says: “It?s more than 50 years since Brown versus Board of Education, but for too many children the quality of their schools is determined by their parents? ZIP code. To me equality in education is the civil rights issue of our time.”
He then gives a brief description of what he calls his “American Dream State Grant” program that would ultimately cost $25 billion a year to increase teacher and principal salaries in high-poverty schools. The funding is tied to accountability measures that include showing the schools have increased discipline for students, more teacher training and regular assessments of student progress.
Rales said published research shows that poor children can achieve at higher levels “when taught by outstanding teachers in schools led by excellent principals.”
Last Thursday, Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin, far ahead of Rales in the polls, introduced the “Master Teacher Act,” with similar goals. Twelve Democrats and two Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are co-sponsors of the measure.
“The key to improving schools is to recruit and keep highly-skilled teachers who are willing to teach in schools that are underperforming,” Cardin said.
