Presidential candidate condemned by advocates for student-centered education for joining reckless teachers’ strike, threatening future-saving schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Center for Education Reform (CER) issued the following statement today by CER president and founder Jeanne Allen regarding today’s scheduled visit by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, to the Chicago Teachers Union’s strike in Chicago, IL, one day after the senator pledged to ban federal funding for new charter schools as part of her campaign’s education policy platform.

“This week is seeing Elizabeth Warren’s education stances go from disastrous to downright awful. Yesterday she released a plan filled with failed policies of the past that puts narrow special interests over parents’ rights and student’s opportunities to succeed. Today, she is going to stand with powerful union organizers against rank-and-file teachers who just want to do their job while children are out in the cold.

“Banning federal funding for charter schools and threatening the freedom they enjoy, especially under the false argument that they take away resources from underperforming schools, is bad enough, and would produce a devastating race to the bottom that our country cannot afford. But pledging to do so while linking arms with the same activists who are keeping schools closed by shamelessly moving the goal posts in their negotiations only adds insult to injury and sends a terrible message to students and their families all over America. 

“Warren’s attack is especially disturbing considering that her home state charter schools have done undeniable wonders for student achievement. Her plan is a direct attack on all of those student achievers. We will not allow truly progressive policies that improve education, and the lives of so many families, to be replaced in the name of radical politics. Charter schools give students the choice to pursue their dreams, regardless of race, religion, or hometown, and we should stand by any choice that enables students to succeed.”