J. Robert McClure
Key Player

President & CEO, James Madison InstituteJ. Robert McClure III is president of the James Madison Institute (JMI). Prior to being named president in 2004, McClure spent 15 years in the education field as a teacher and administrator.

McClure has written extensively on education reform, limited government, property rights, and healthcare reform. He is especially critical of the education establishment’s claim that poor student achievement is due to insufficient funding.

In an August 11, 2006 op-ed in The Miami Herald, McClure criticized a teachers’ union president for complaining that the Miami-Dade School Board budget of $6.1 billion budget for 2006-2007 (a 13 percent increase over the previous year) “makes funding for qualified teachers a leftover.”

McClure pointed out that Miami-Dade was spending $9,700 per pupil, nearly 30 percent more than in 2003. Despite this expenditure, 73 percent of tenth graders lacked basic literacy skills.