2016 Election: Where Do the Candidates Stand?

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1. C Baugh says:

   March 30, 2016 at 1:46 pm

   To me, the true existential threat to public education is “FOR PROFIT” charter schools (especially the “for profit chains”). There are still some charters who are true non-profits that do a wonderful job of educating under-served populations (an example – Lumin Education in Dallas). Lumin selects its students by lottery, so there is no “cherry-picking.” They have purposely placed their schools in difficult areas – not areas where they can garner the most tuition (most kids are on scholarship). Their motto is “Start young. Involve parents.” They view their students as full of potential, and work hard to help them achieve their best. They do fantastic work and have phenomenal success.

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   • Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene says:

     March 30, 2016 at 5:30 pm

     A threadbare trope of the charter industry (profit and nonprofit alike), is that of “lotteries prevent cherry picking”. Cherry picking, or what we term selective enrollment in more learned circles, is far more easily achieved by attrition. High attrition is facilitated through push out policies (e.g. charter school disciplinary practices, onerous requirements for parents, etc.), through counseling out (a practice used by most Los Angeles charter chains for Students With Disabilities (cf. Office of the Independent Monitor. “Pilot Study of Charter Schools’ Compliance with the Modified Consent Decree and the LAUSD Special Education Policies and Procedures”., Los Angeles: Modified Consent Decree., 2009. Print.)), and a number of other practices. Moreover, students lost (a euphemism) through attrition are generally not replaced with students mid-year (revenue hungry charter operators call this not “backfilling”).

     In addition to effectively selecting their student body through attrition (the de facto “cherry picking, so to speak), charters frequently screen children out during pre-lottery enrollment through difficult to understand applications, and/or applications that require disclosure of information that discourage families from the process to being with. For example, in Los Angeles, so-called 501c3 “non-profit” charters were found to require parents “to indicate if their child had an IEP or received special education services. Of these, about two-thirds (64.77%) requested that a copy of the IEP be provided with the application. Similarly, 34.83% of the applications asked if a student had a 504 plan, with 79.03% of these requesting a copy with the application.” (Office of the Independent Monitor. “Findings of the Review of Charter Applications and Enrollment Forms”., Los Angeles: Report on the Progress and Effectiveness of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Implementation of the Modified Consent Decree During the 2010-2011 School Year., 2011. Print.)

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2. Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene says:

   March 30, 2016 at 2:13 pm

   Hands down the candidate with the best education platform is Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Her critique of John King demonstrates a breadth of knowledge that is unprecedented for a politician. She opposes privatization via charters-vouchers, opposes high-stakes standardized testing, and is pro-union. http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2016/03/guest-post-dr-jill-stein-failing-grade.html

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   • Ed Detective says:

     March 30, 2016 at 6:25 pm

     As a strong Sanders supporter, I will agree with you there, Robert.

     Jill Stein is a wonderful person and candidate. She has more nuanced views on K-12 education policy than Bernie Sanders, and is more aware of (and/or more willing to articulate) her views of the threat of K-12 education privatization.

     That said, I think Bernie is, overall, nearly the best candidate we could ask for at this time. (And obviously much more likely to win this election than Jill Stein.) We know that he stands strongly with “the people” and the public sector, and we know he is willing and capable of improving his views as he gains new information. I have faith that he will improve his K-12 education policy and even begin to use the bully pulpit on behalf of educators.

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   • SomeDAM Poet says:

     March 31, 2016 at 11:01 am

     I really wish Sanders would team up with Jill Stein (whom I voted for in the last election).

     They have similar views but she could still teach him a lot and only make the ticket stronger.

     Not incidentally, IMHO, she is actually smarter and wiser than all of the candidates put together, but unfortunately, most people consider a vote for a third party a ‘wasted vote” (at best) and insane (at worst).

     but as Einstein allegedly said, the real insanity is to keep doing the same thing and nonetheless expect a different result each time you do it.

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3. Chiara says:

   March 30, 2016 at 4:26 pm

   It’s exclusively focused on charters and vouchers on both the Republican and Democratic side, other than occasional forays into rants about labor unions.

   Charters, vouchers and labor unions. That’s what the candidates have to say about “public schools”. They somehow managed to conduct a year-long campaign where they all insist they prioritize “education” without ever mentioning public schools.

   It’s remarkable, really, when you think about it.

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   • Laura H. Chapman says:

     March 30, 2016 at 4:54 pm

     Keep this up Chiara. I know you get tired of making this point but you are absolutely correct: Charters plus preschool plus student loans. That is the sum and substance. At least they quoted Diane in this report.
     In addition to the consistent and wrong use of “public” to label privately managed charters, the PR for the whole industry is framed to create the impression that these entities are above reproach,

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4. Gordon Wilder says:

   March 30, 2016 at 4:42 pm

   For me, Bernie did NOT bungle the answer to charters. That is MY opinion. If one looks closely to what he said for me his answer was clear and unambiguous. .
   I am very unimpressed with the corporate media which DOES bungle the “news”.

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5. LeftCoastTeacher says:

   March 30, 2016 at 7:33 pm

   Did Bill Clinton really tell Eli Broad that his wife was simply lying to the public about charter schools? Well, I suppose he knows her best.

   Bernie cares about many people; Eli Broad is not one of those people. No, Senator Sanders doesn’t care about Eli’s donations to a superPAC. And I do think he misspoke about charters, but mistakes are different than lies.

   Regardless of my views about th candidates, however, that was a very informative article. Thank you for posting it.

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6. Involved Mom says:

   March 30, 2016 at 9:05 pm

   Good article.

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7. John Ogozalek says:

   March 31, 2016 at 5:06 am

   Busy at school and fighting a cold….so I finally got to read this post right now.

   You betcha this is a good piece. Had to bookmark it. Plus, the post further below with lots of info about teachers’ free speech rights.

   Miss one day seeing this blog and you can miss a lot.

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8. wgersen says:

   March 31, 2016 at 6:14 am

   The passage of ESSA guaranteed that public education would be, at best, a marginal issue in this Presidential campaign, which is too bad for Bernie Sanders. I think that if ESSA had not passed the debate over RTTT would have revealed a substantial difference between him and Ms. Clinton and allowed for a substantial change in direction had he been elected. Now, with a bi-partisan bill on public education recently passed whoever gets elected will have a limited impact on public schools because ESSA hands the meaty parts of education policy back to the states.

   Unfortunately ESSA also further guarantees that the standardized testing regimen will remain in place for at least another five years and probably longer. Worse, it empowers State legislatures and State Boards to use the tests in any way they see fit opening the door for more severe punishments to be attached to test results. Finally, ESSA diffuses the arguments against standardized testing by shifting the responsibility for the use of tests and the choice of tests to the State level. This means that those of us who oppose the overemphasis on testing need to attack the issue on 50 fronts… and, unfortunately, those of us who oppose standardized tests do not have access to Foundation funding or hedge funders who seek to privatize public education.

   And worst of all, ESSA allows the US government to sidestep the problem of inequitable funding, which was what the original ESEA legislation hoped to remedy…. and which remains the biggest problem facing our schools today.

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9. SomeDAM Poet says:

   March 31, 2016 at 10:25 am

   “Where do Democrats stand?”

   Where do Democrats stand
   On current ed reforms?
   In Duncan’s chartered band
   Of seventy-six VAMbones

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10. Linda says:

    March 31, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    The current, two opposing political parties, are theater. Political theater obscures the plot of colonialism, within America’s borders. By design, social issues, like abortion, gay rights, separation of church and state, act to separate the parties. The national security issue fuels patriotism. Taken together, the two strategies create an illusion of democracy and, coalesce people against a common, external enemy. The plan works to reduce the threat of internal revolt, based on economic deprivation.
    Only one Democratic senator opposed privatizing leadership, for the Dept. of Ed., which reflects Silicon Valley’s power. Parker, a conservative WaPo columnist, this week, quoted an analyst, who said, ” …the military and Silicon Valley may be the only institutions left that are capable of governing.” The Koch’s, Wall Street and, multinational corporations maimed the government, to incapacity. Billionaire Bloomberg’s control was shown when he said that, a Trump and Sanders contest, would provoke his presidential candidacy. The current head of CBS News was formerly with Fox and Bloomberg. His brother works in national security for Pres. Obama. The damning, evidentiary list of American oligarchy is lengthy.

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11. m4potw says:

    March 31, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    Hi Linda:

    Your beautiful expression is shared by many conscientious educators. You are not alone. It is ironic that veteran and experts in Educational field (GULLIBLE researchers, scientists) have co-operated with The Koch’s, Wall Street and, multinational corporations to harm commoners’ lives for their American oligarchy lavish lifestyle.

    I just watched “safe” starred by Jason Statham. In this movie, Mayor and Chief Police have orchestra with GLOBAL criminal organizations (= The Koch’s, Wall Street and, multinational corporations.) for billions dollars in profit sharing.

    I only hope that parents, teachers, and students will be as smart as the little girl in that movie. Also, all conscientious educational retirees, historians, superintendents, and principles will be like Jason, the good cop with motto “one day at a time to fight back corruption”.

    Please everyone supports OPT OUT MOVEMENT as our CIVIC DUTY to protect and preserve our TRUE American DEMOCRACY = Public Education System for all American Children. Back2basic

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    • Linda says:

      March 31, 2016 at 6:49 pm

      There’s a democracy rally planned for April 16-18, in D.C. The event “Democracy Awakening”, has a website.
      I agree with you, Mae, there are too few people expressing concern about the oligarch takeover.

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