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by Jason Russell
Washington Examiner
July 29, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s position on public charter schools has been fairly ambiguous since her presidential campaign began, but at least one teachers’ union leader says Clinton is on board with their view.

“Hillary Clinton is on the exact same page as we are,” Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, told the American Prospect’s Rachel Cohen. “[She] says there are some innovative charter schools that were designed to impact the system, to try something creative. But if a charter has any other reason for existing, like making someone money, then she does not support those, and neither do we. I don’t care if they call it a for-profit or if it’s technically a nonprofit.”

The 3 million-member NEA was one of the first unions to endorse Clinton’s presidential bid in October 2015, although they waited until after the 1.6 million-member American Federation of Teachers endorsed Clinton in July.

Clinton has generally been supportive of charter schools over the past two decades. In a July address to the NEA’s annual conference, Clinton expressed tepid support for charter schools in front of a generally anti-charter crowd. “When schools get it right, whether they’re traditional public schools or public charter schools, let’s figure out what’s working,” Clinton said, followed by a din of booing. “No, let’s figure out what’s working and share it with schools across America,” she followed up, adding a denouncement of for-profit schools. Clinton made a similar remark a couple weeks later to the American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention.

Before that, in December 2015, Clinton praised a bill for giving resources to expand high-quality public charter schools. But a month prior she was criticizing charters: “Most charter schools — I don’t want to say every one — but most charter schools, they don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them.”

Back in the 1990s, when charter schools were just getting their start, Clinton was generally seen as a supporter.

Charter schools are publicly funded and do not charge tuition. Compared to traditional public schools, charters have more independence and flexibility in their operations and curricula, which is why many families find charters desirable. They are open to all students, but they often don’t have enough space to meet demand. In that case, they use a random lottery system to determine admission.

Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

by Abby Jackson
Business Insider
July 26, 2016

After Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, Hillary Clinton ripped into the choice.

“Mike Pence is one of the most extreme vice presidential picks in a generation,” Clinton said at an American Federation of Teachers conference in Minneapolis on Monday.

“And he’s one of the most hostile politicians in America when it comes to public education,” she continued.

It was searing criticism, especially as Pence has made education the cornerstone of his policy agenda since he assumed governorship over the Hoosier State in 2013.

While it’s expected that Clinton would be critical of Trump and Pence while stumping in Minneapolis, the attack highlights Pence’s divisiveness when it comes to education policies.

School vouchers

As governor, Pence has championed a number of school choice policies, like Indiana’s voucher program, that affect funding at public schools. Vouchers allow families to redeem tuition funding if they choose to send their children to private, rather than public, schools.

Pence has won big in his push to expand the state’s voucher program, successfully lifting the cap (previously $4,800) on the amount of money families can receive when sending their children to private schools. In fact, Indiana’s voucher program is now one of the largest in the nation, according to the New York Times.

Opponents of voucher programs argue that they siphon essential funding from already meager public school budgets to other schools, and at their worst, are unconstitutional, as they use taxpayer-funded vouchers to benefit religious schools.

“Pence’s K through 12 education agenda has had serious, deleterious consequences for public education,” Bob Arnove, the Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at Indiana University, told Business Insider. “He’s let ideology and religious convictions trump, and that’s no pun intended, the common good.”

John P. Bean, professor emeritus at Indiana University, also believes Pence’s school choice policies to harmful to the public education system.

“Pence’s promotion of school choice seems to be a thinly disguised handout to private religious schools at a time when public schools need more funding to function well,” Bean told Business Insider via email.

That opinion seems to be debated.

“Pence’s record in defending and advancing educational opportunity and access is strong, and his record on improving Indy’s schools is strong,” Michelle Tigani, the communications director at the Center of Education Reform, told Business Insider.

Tigani specifically highlighted that vouchers help the neediest families and children.

“Voucher programs largely help low income middle class kids; these are the kids that most need access,” to quality education, she said.

Voucher policies typically have income restrictions that vary state-to-state to ensure education funds truly end up in the families most in need. In Indiana, the 2016-17 income limit for a family of four to receive the largest voucher amount was $44,955.

Read the full article here.

by Jeanne Allen
The 74
July 20, 2016

Donald Trump’s attacks on Hillary Clinton were returned recently at the annual meeting of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest union, and the one representing most of the urban teachers in this country.

“Mike Pence is one of the most extreme vice presidential picks in a generation,” Clinton said. “And he’s one of the most hostile politicians in America when it comes to public education. Neither Mike Pence nor Donald Trump should be anywhere near our children’s education.”

Those words were the equivalent of throwing red meat to the wolves, as the union crowd erupted into cheers, hoots, and hollers.

Similarly, education reformers — activists, donors, lawmakers — are taking sides and reacting across social media, each about their respective outrages.

I understand how it is to feel adamant about a candidate. I have tweeted my way through a political season. But advocates for true education reform must be willing to pass judgment on policy positions before condemning policy proponents.

Such unity hardly seems possible when Clinton’s union supporters are feeding anti-school choice talking points to legions of members that their schools will disappear under a Trump-Pence administration. And Trump supporters organized in the blogosphere use different calling cards to strike a similar fear in parents, focusing on the impact a Clinton administration would have on the hearts and minds of their children, with the loss of local control and teachers unions in charge of the U.S. Department of Education.

Finding any middle path or “common” ground will be hard. And for many ed reformers, the pair of candidates presents a Hobson’s choice.

But it need not be so.

We have, as the saying goes, no permanent allies nor permanent enemies, just a never-ending interest in bettering education. Those who care passionately about education should be willing to work with anyone who is equally as passionate.

It doesn’t mean they will get your vote. But we need their ear now, and we need an open door with whoever wins. We must be willing to recognize any candidate that supports the core policies and principles of education innovation and opportunity, or call them out for their opposition, no matter who they are or what they espouse on other issues that may be near and dear to our hearts.

Why? Because history shows us that this is how we succeed.

The development of education reform is rich in strange bedfellows that locked arms in and outside of elections. People came together on policies that disrupted the status quo, recognizing that the most important issue facing our country is the education of our youth.

Wisconsin state Rep. Polly Williams was a member of the Black Panthers. She was also a partner with Conservative Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson to make vouchers a reality for poor children in Milwaukee and pave the way for greater school improvement throughout Wisconsin.

The fact that Democrats once called Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge every name in the book didn’t stop state Rep. Dwight Evans, an African-American Philadelphian who is now in line to enter Congress, from uniting with Ridge to create the state’s charter school law. Republicans fought against it to preserve local control, and Democrats fought against it to preserve the current system’s power. Sound familiar?

And in Cleveland, where the Republican Party is current perched, the late great City Councilwoman Fannie Lewis told everyone that she didn’t care who she worked with so long as they could help save her babies in her city. She joined hands with George Voinovich, a Republican governor, and free market, conservative donors to fight for school choice. And fight they did, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

At least a dozen other such alliances have had transformational results in education in cities and states nationwide. Florida’s scholarship programs enjoy majority support in the black and Latino caucuses, even among Democrats. They partner with Republican Gov. Rick Scott, their arch-nemesis, on other issues.

Polar opposites and divisions in reform have always existed, but for years, politicians were willing to look beyond the most extreme of differences, because reformers did too.

Truly committed to parent power?

On the same page in support of policies and practices that produce the innovation, flexibility, and transparency to create those opportunities that hold the key to better schools for all children?

Then let’s put down our ideological swords, roll up our sleeves, and make it happen.

Let’s go back to the future. Lawmakers in statehouses nationwide and in Congress would welcome it. Policymakers and think tank researchers want it.

And our kids deserve it.

POLITICO Morning Education
July 25, 2016

WHERE TIM KAINE STANDS ON EDUCATION ISSUES: Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick has been active in Congress on education issues, particularly when it comes to career and technical education. He’s been pushing to expand federal student loans for some career education programs, has worked on a rewrite of the Perkins Act, and founded and co-chairs the Senate career and technical education caucus.

– On LGBT students’ rights: In early May, Kaine wrote a letter [http://bit.ly/2am2DJL] to Education Secretary John B. King Jr. urging him to issue a clarification that LGBT students are fully protected from discrimination under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities. Less than two weeks later, the Education Department issued guidance [http://politico.pro/2am2VjL] that transgender students must be permitted to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity – which has prompted about half of states to sue over the issue.

– On free public higher education: “We need to give careful consideration, particularly on the fiscal front, to whether there should be some type of income test with respect to free access to college,” Kaine wrote in a Q&A published in The Huffington Post earlier this year [http://huff.to/2aouS99]. “By making all public university education free, we’d be giving away college education to richer Americans who don’t need the assistance paying for it.”

– As governor of Virginia, Kaine also signed the state up to support [http://bit.ly/2am4o7W] the development of the Common Core. But the state ultimately rejected the academic standards in math and English in favor of its own standards, which state officials deemed more rigorous.

– Reflections on Virginia Tech shooting: Speaking Saturday at his first Clinton campaign rally as her VP pick, Kaine invoked his experience leading Virginia after 32 people were shot to death at Virginia Tech in 2007. He described it as the “worst day of my life.” Kaine subsequently signed into law a series of bills to address emergency responses on college campuses and mental health issues [http://bit.ly/2aovk73].

– His wife, Anne Holton, is a political power player in her own right – she’s the education secretary of Virginia; she also spent seven years on the judicial bench and, as a teen, helped integrate schools in Richmond, Va., when her father was governor. Kimberly Hefling has more: http://politico.pro/2a68cZg.

The following was released by the American Federation of Teachers Friday, July 22 after Hillary Clinton selected Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate:

Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s selection of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her vice presidential running mate:

“The choice of Tim Kaine, the son of a welder who has lived middle-class values and has a long track record of progressive accomplishments, reiterates Hillary Clinton’s commitment to building a government that will level the playing field for working families. While the GOP ticket masks irrational ideas behind a morally bankrupt message of fear, bigotry and hatred, a Clinton-Kaine ticket will be focused on helping people see higher wages, lower student debt, good jobs, successful public schools, and safety and security here and abroad.

“The contrasts between a Clinton-Kaine ticket and a Trump-Pence ticket couldn’t be more stark. Donald Trump, the narcissist, believes that he alone can fix our nation’s problems and peddles fear in a campaign devoid of facts, plans or humanity. Clinton and Kaine choose to confront fear and solve problems, and they will use their vast experience to help ensure the American dream is within reach for everyone.

“Strong public education runs deep in the Kaine household. In the U.S. Senate, he took the lead on supporting career and technical education programs in the new federal education law, and he has fought for funding to modernize public school buildings. And as Virginia’s governor, he expanded pre-K programs by 40 percent. His wife, Anne Holton, has been dedicated to fighting for great public schools for decades—she helped integrate Richmond, Va., public schools as a child and today is Virginia’s secretary of education.

“Our nation and the world can feel confident that the Clinton-Kaine ticket will be a great leadership team that will work to break down walls, disarm hate, and make educational and economic opportunity a reality.”