I have decided to vote to re-elect President Barack Obama.
As readers of this blog are well aware, I strongly oppose what he is doing to our nation’s education system. I dislike Race to the Top, which in many respects is far worse than the failed No Child Left Behind. I know how the Obama administration has outsourced its education policies to the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, and the Wall Street hedge fund managers (the alleged Democrats for Education Reform).
But Romney’s education agenda is even worse. Obama pretends that he is not a privatizer. Romney makes no pretense. And on every other issue that matters to the future of our society, Romney would far worse. He is the face of the far-right in the Republican party, and I can’t imagine an America that yearns to return to the 1920s. The savage inequalities (to borrow Jonathan Kozol’s term) are far too great in this country already. We need a President who seeks to change them, not exacerbate them.
Today, I made my declsion known in an opinion piece at CNN.com.
This is a dangerous moment for our nation. Each of us must make the wisest choice we can for the future. I have made mine. You make yours.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I voted for Obama via absentee weeks ago. As much as I disagree with his education and foreign policies, he’s far better than the alternative.
I agree with you completely, and I am glad you have made this very difficult decision. We can continue to try to make President Obama understand and continue to work for change, but with Romney, there would be no hope. Thank you so much for articulating how many of us feel.
l will also be voting for Obama for similar reasons and with the same reservations. Sadly, our votes in Brooklyn (and in your home state of Texas) have not been courted because of the Electoral College system.. Unfortunately, many students will not learn how we elect presidents in the U.S.because NCLB and RTTT discount the importance of history and civics in favor of standardized test taking. If any of the dedicated teachers on this list have the freedom to teach history and government, they can take a look at this primary source lesson on the Electoral College developed at the La Guardia and Wagner Archives at La Guardia Community College/CUNY where I work. The link is: http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/voting_curriculum/the_electoral_college.html
Turncoat
Thank you for supporting the lesser of two evils on education. However, your vote is far more important for greater reasons. First, the Supreme Court. The next President will appoint one or two justices and they will form the nucleus for the future. The Republican party refuses to extend equal rights and protections to women or LBGT Americans. This is totally unacceptable. Also, the party that stresses less government in our lives also stresses governmental control of women’s reproductive rights. This is unacceptable. This election is beyond the future of education in America. Neither Man gets it on education. But the Republicans are unacceptable on the rest.
Call me a spineless pragmatist… but… if I lived in NY I’d be voting Green… but since I live in a battleground state I will vote for Obama… Here’s my concern: if progressives abandon Obama in my state for Jill Stein Romney will carry the day… yet until the progressive wing shows it has a following the democrats will continue to track to the right and “the grand bargain” will be something even Reagan would find too conservative… as you know all too well, we’re faced with a Hobson’s choice…
Vote for Jill Stein. Obama is up by 4 points in Wisconsin in the latest poll so there is no need to feel guilty. This election will not go to Romney because you don’t vote for Obama.
Okay, you spineless pragmatist!!-HA HA!!
Will be voting third party. Cannot vote for someone who continued almost all of Bush the Least’s policies both domestic and foreign.
Maine is not a battleground either, and I plan to vote Green as a way to help start a real alternative to the Demolicans-Republocrats monolith. I certainly understand why those in the swing states would prefer Obama, but again, I would not expect much of a difference to Romney–even for a Supreme Court appointment.
I’m voting Green simply because my passion and career are being destroyed. Kids are being hurt. Romney may be worse, but hurting kids is wrong and destroying the love of learning cannot be condoned. Election day is Accountability Day for politicians, and voting for Obama says…Keep It Up, Full Speed Ahead.
Obama can’t be trusted in so many other ways. I believe he is a turncoat and not a patriot to our country and we haven’t seen nothing yet if he gets re elected. Tuckers ed reform has long been a crusade of mine to expose. Now what is going to implode in Obamas face is the Benghazi affair. He was told about the attack within an hour and chose to ignore it. I am convinced it will all come out. Hillary wants to be president in four years so she is taking the fall for Obama. If Romney gets elected and gets us out of this economic mess… she knows she will have to wit another four. years. I hope our nation wakes up before its too late. More than education is at stake. Fran
Yesterday I cast my vote early for Obama, despite wishing he had other, wiser advisors in his policies and in his campaign.
After voting I heard this short opinion piece aimed at conservative Republican voters, not agenda-laden extremists, but those who truly were Reagan-ites.
It was powerful and I hope it might reach an even wider audience:
http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/lake_effect_segment.php?segmentid=9775
Fran: from your name I assume you are a woman. Do you feel that equal pay for women is allowing them a flex work schedule so they can be home for dinner with the children but not to address the issue of equal pay for equal jobs? Who has told you that Romney’s hidden economic agenda will get us out of this mess: not the economic experts.
Here is the best reason I can see for not voting for Obama:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/24/obama-terrorism-kill-list
Forever war, the “kill list,” the drone bomb campaign that rains down death from the skies and kills innocent men, women and children, the aw-Awlaki rule that gives Obama the right to murder any American at any time for any reason so long as the president suspects him/her of “terrorism” – I cannot support a man who engages in these evil acts.
Quite frankly, Barack Obama is a murderer and a war criminal. If there were justice in the world, he would be in a jail cell in Guantanamo Bay alongside Bush, Cheney, Rice, Hadley, Rumsfeld, Yoo, et al. having Rage Against The Machine albums blasted at him 24/7 for the rest of his life.
But there is no justice, and so, instead many Americans are faced with the choice of voting for him because he is the lesser of the two evils available to us on election day.
Well, I cannot choose the lesser evil.
It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: The lesser of two evils is still evil.
And make no mistake, Barack Obama is evil.
Just ask the relatives of the dead drone bomb victims Obama had slaughtered in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the name of national security.
Totalmente estoy de acuerdo.
I agree 100%.
From an update to that article: “Meanwhile, former Obama press secretary and current campaign adviser Robert Gibbs this week justified the US killing of 16-year-old American Abdulrahaman Awlaki, killed by a US drone in Yemen two weeks after his father was, on the ground that he “should have a far more responsible father”.”
I wonder how many people on this blog would say that it’s okay for kids of drug addicts, etc. to be condemned to sub-par schooling because their parents “should have been more responsible”?
And it’s not like it was some low-level Obama administration official speaking. It was the man who is paid to be the voice of the president. So I can only assume that Obama agrees that Abdulrahman Awlaki had it coming because his father was “irresponsible”.
Obama is Bush Jr.
I have to disagree here. If you want someone who would stand up for teachers and treat them with respect, then vote for Jill Stein on the green party ticket. I understand people think voting for a third-party candidate is a “wasted vote”, but I guess it depends if you live in a swing state. In the future, we need to start supporting and electing officials who will actually protect and move education in the right direction instead of throwing our teachers and students into the pockets of the Pearson corporation.
Obama was consciously chosen to be the Great Impersonator who would split what’s left of the New Deal coalition. His candidacy was intended to split off African Americans – the most reliably progressive voters in the US – from opposing the cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and the overall imposition of the neoliberal agenda. Thus the Overclass’ support for him over Hillary Clinton in 2008.
That some members of the Overclass are too thin-skinned to ignore Obama’s meaningless and hypocritical rhetoric, or too rapacious to see what service he is providing them, does not negate his role and function.
With Obama in office, what remains of the Left is hopelessly divided, while with Romney, as Diane says, there is no pretense, and we can perhaps fully face the class warfare being imposed upon us. Either way, the 1/10 of 1% have chosen this path for the nation, and it is our struggle no matter who is elected: better to know who your enemy is.
In other words, vote your conscience, as it’s liable to be all you have soon.
Michael,
I don’t disagree with your sense of outrage and betrayal. As you will notice in my article, I referred to the two choices before us. One is intolerable.
Diane
Diana, I say this with all due respect – please read the Washington Post article today that covers President Obama’s “disposition matrix,” his administration’s plan to institutionalize the drone bomb campaign that has murdered thousands of innocent men, women and children all over the world and that puts in place policy tools to make the president’s “kill list” perpetual and explain how Romney is “intolerable,” but Obama isn’t.
LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/plan-for-hunting-terrorists-signals-us-intends-to-keep-adding-names-to-kill-lists/2012/10/23/4789b2ae-18b3-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_story.html
I agree that this a dangerous moment for our nation. Unfortunately that is as true if Barack Obama wins re-election as it is if Mitt Romney beats him.
It is a judgment call, and not an easy one. I made my decision. You make yours.
Diane,
Diane,
Our dilemmas are so profound that I cannot begrudge anyone who plans to vote for Obama. Certainly, my respect and appreciation for you is such that it’s difficult for me to strenuously argue against voting for him. Perhaps what I’m trying to say is that no one should have any illusions about their vote, and that they should be prepared to fight as energetically against Obama as they would against Romney. They are both flip sides of the same counterfeit coin.
However, at the risk of repeating myself, I think there is truth in Glen Ford’s statement that Obama is “the more effective Evil.”
We all know politicians lie, but isn’t it possible that a silver lining exists in the possibility that Romney is lying to his political base? His tenure as governor of Massachusetts suggests he might be. In any case, when Romney attempts to turn Social Security over to his pals at Bain, there is at least the possibility that a united opposition will emerge.
With a second term for Obama, those possibilities are nearly certain to disappear, as he has been virtually engineered to neutralize progressive opposition to his Trojan Horse policies. And he will cut Social Security, as he has bought into and helps spread the lie that the system is facing insolvency and is contributing to government deficits.
While I’d never suggest a vote for Romney, we know Obama is lying to us about education. We know that under Obama not a single banking executive has been indicted for the largest theft of public funds in history. As for the savage inequalities that Jonathan Kozol has written about, they have increased at a faster rate under Obama than under Bush, with poverty and income polarization both intensifying. And, as Reality Based Educator has pointed out, Obama has been a faithful steward of empire and the National Security State, while eroding civil liberties at home.
Everyone should vote as their conscience tells them, and then prepare for the struggles that will follow this increasingly shallow ritual.
Dr. Ravitch,
President Obama said if he’s re-elected, he is “willing to listen.” I wish all of us who are educators (meaning we have actually earned real credentials in our field) would petition President Obama to appoint a new Secretary of Education who is actually an educator.
I wonder if he would be likely to do this if our votes were contingent on this? Oh well, I suppose I’m just a frustrated idealist.
I wish the NEA would have endorsed “none of the above” this year, but I understand when people feel like the choices are between “bad” and “worse” when it comes to education policy.
If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t Linda Darling-Hammond his education advisor when he was running in 2008?
I’m really tired of Arne Duncan and his “know it all” attitude.
Thanks for sharing this forum with all of us!
Joe
I have sent the President an email regarding education and will continue to do so, but you are correct regarding Mitt Romney. He said at Monday night’s debate teachers inions have to go behind. The AFT has endorsed the President and published Romney’s record on education while governor of Massachusetts. Any teacher thinking of voting for him should read this and rethink their positions. We are in this financial mess because if GOP policies we can’t go back!
Obama’s education policies will end up killing off the unions anyway. He promotes Charters and state legislation that effectively ends job security for teachers. Who needs a union when ultimately an arbitrary algorithm will decide if you keep your job or not? Furthermore teachers, you will not be happy when Obamacare kicks in and they start taxing your “Cadillac” health insurance plans. The best thing for the teaching profession is a strong economy. As long as governments sign on to ridiculous federal policies for bribe money, anti teacher legislation will be passed in the name of austerity. As long as recent college grads have no job opportunities, TFA and charter schools will have plenty of desperate applicants. Romney is correct to say that hiring more teachers will not fix the economy. Teachers in Miami qualify for food stamps. We don’t have wads of extra cash to spend. I’m not voting for Romney, but I am willing to live with a Romney presidency if my Third party vote gets him elected.
Libertarians need a 5% national showing to get FEC matching funding to destroy the nasty hold that the Demoblicans have on our nation:
if Obama has your state LOCKED up, then give your vote a voice and consider voting Libertarian to shake up the 2016 cycle!
John, do you read this blog? the Libertarian “school choice” agenda is antithetical to the pro-public school beliefs of Diane and her supporters.
I agree with Gary Johnson 100% on foreign policy. Jill Stein of the Green Party also has a pro-peace stance on foreign policy, PLUS she supports public schools and compassionate social welfare protections for the needy members of our society. Children whose basic shelter, health, and nutrition needs are not met very rarely succeed in school. The Libertarian domestic agenda leaves the neediest members of our society, particularly poor children, to fend for themselves.
Since I do not live in a battleground state, I will be voting for Jill Stein.
Yes I read the blog.that said I am trying to simply bust the system of two party rule.Gary Johnson has the best shot at five percent.therefore I will do just what a disaffected Obama supporter will do using Dr Ravitch’s logic: holding my nose while carrying my vote.
In a state as blue as New York, I’m saddened that you don’t feel you can vote your conscience. Obama may be better than Romney (although I’m not completely sold on that argument), but there’s no chance of New York going with Romney anyway. Jill Stein is a much better choice than either Romney or Obama and it would be really nice to have a good contingent of people supporting her, especially in states where it’s “safe” to do so.
But be that as it may, I guess it distresses me more that you’ve come out and announced your choice. As I’ve said many times, the only power we have over Obama is our vote and only for the next two weeks. So long as he knows our votes are sewn up, he has no reason to listen to us, no matter how many times we tell him how “disappointed” we are with him. At the very least we should use what little advantage we have by at least threatening to withhold our votes.
Dr. Ravitch, there are 3rd party candidates. Jill Stein has an education and economic policy that is second to none, period. There is no beating it.
This infuriates me – education leaders and unions garnering support for a person that will stop at nothing to destroy them. And make no mistake, Obama supports teachers and their unions as much as Mitt.
But what worries me more is that educational leaders and unions should be advertising that their followers and members exclusively vote in terms of EDUCATION. A teacher’s union that endorses Obama is a sell out. And I don’t care about “all the other issues” when it comes to educational leaders and unions – they should be endorsing the best candidate based on education issues ONLY. We should be able to determine the “other issues” on our own and weigh them against endorsements (from educational leaders and unions) ourselves.
What frustrates me most is this die hard fanatical tie to a liberal (or conservative), just because he is a liberal, while disregarding their stance on what is most important to us. This blog, and a union’s oversight, should be dedicated to turning the tide in education for our students and teachers. This is the only way we can win our schools back from the billionaires – strong stands by educational leaders and unions that do the RIGHT thing, not sell out because of “other causes”.
I hope Romney wins because maybe that will force the democrats to get their act together and adopt more of Stein’s approach. This is what we need for our schools and children. All the other stuff takes a back seat to what we educators should strive for.
This blog is not about economics or other social issues, such as medical care, and unions represent teachers, not economic policies and other social issues such as medical care.
As an educational leader I can not sell out and endorse a candidate because he is a “liberal” or a “conservative” – I can only endorse a candidate that will do what’s right for our schools. The public sees this and this could have been a very strong message sent to DFER – to “clean your act up, or democrats are going to lose our votes”.
Apparently, some of us have struck out in this matter.
P.S. – All this rhetoric that if Mitt is elected, there is no way this country will survive is bunk. If this country could withstand 8 years of George W. Bush, certainly it can survive 4 years of Mitt Wit.
This is who you are supporting for President when you urge people to vote for a 3rd party candidate:
Last night in the Indiana senatorial debate, Republican Richard Mourdock said that when a woman becomes pregnant as the result of rape, “it’s something God intended.”
One day earlier, Mitt Romney, the leader of the Republican Party, appeared in a TV ad supporting Mourdock’s campaign, making him the only candidate in the entire country for whom Romney cut an ad in the general election. The fact that he has chosen Mourdock as the best representative for the Republican Party tells you everything you need to know.
And Governor Romney still won’t back off his endorsement of Mourdock, let alone demand that Mourdock’s campaign pull down the ad.
Well, I’m with ME in voting third party. Haven’t decided which one but wouldn’t it be a start if all the third party candidates together got like 25% of the vote? But not likely to happen because so many are so scared of either of the lesser of two evils as shown by the fear mongering in your post (and that fear mongering works for both the corporate dominated parties).
Jill Stein simply isn’t the best of the third party candidates. I can’t stand the Green Party anyway because it comes across as appealing to the stereotype latte liberal types and overemphasizes environmental concerns which, while important, aren’t the most critical issues facing the country. Stein is completely in over her head and it shows. The best of the third party lot is Rocky Anderson, but he is on only 15 state ballots and a write-in in 22 other states. He should have made his bid earlier. This guy could have held his own against Romney and Obama; Stein comes across as a total ditz.
Thank you for your comments~ I also will vote for President Obama. I do not understand how any public school teacher or any Christian who believes what Jesus taught about the poor would be able to justify a vote for a man who represents what has happened to the Republican Party.
“I do not understand how any public school teacher or any Christian who believes what Jesus taught. . . ” nor how they could vote for the current war crimes criminal that occupies the office now.
By the way, this: “The savage inequalities (to borrow Jonathan Kozol’s term) are far too great in this country already. We need a President who seeks to change them, not exacerbate them.”
I know Obama *says* he wants to reduce inequality, but what has he actually *done* toward accomplishing that alleged goal?
Obama reminds me of a very intelligent, glib teenager who manages to say all the things his parents want to hear, but then goes around getting away with murder behind their backs and yet they continue to lavish praise on their wonderful darling boy because he’s “such a nice boy”.
As others have pointed out, I’m not convinced that Obama is better just because he says the right things. If anything he’s more dangerous because at least with Romney we can see what we’ll be getting and we can organize ourselves better to stop it.
Jill Stein:
EDUCATION
Provide tuition-free education from kindergarten through college, thus eliminating the student debt crisis.
Forgive existing student debt.
Protect our public school systems from privatization
End high-stakes testing and stop punishing students and teachers for failures of the system in which they work.
Stop denying students diplomas based on tests.
Stop using merit pay to punish teachers.
I think she stole these ideas from Dr. Ravitch.
I decided a while ago that I would vote for Obama. I disagree with his education policies but do not see him as evil (and would much rather have him as president than Romney). Beyond that, each person should decide for himself or herself how to vote and whether or not to announce it–so I support Diane for making that choice, whether or not I or others agree with it. I happen to agree with it, but that’s beside the point.
I won’t feel guilty when I vote for Dr.Jill Stein… and it will make a statement.
Good call Peg! When education gets worse, and it will whether Obama or Romney are in the White House, at least we can both say our vote was for someone who would point it in the right direction.
To all the 3rd party voters whose vote will help elect Romney: don’t complain when your tenure and unions are crushed by the government. Please don’t complain when your public school money goes to finance charters, vouchers and parochial schools. Please don’t complain when he obtains approval for Supreme Court Justices who will serve for the next 20 plus years removing your individual civil liberties and rights. You will teach yourself a lesson and you will not be allowed to complain.
Fine. And when you elect Obama and the same thing happens, then don’t complain either.
Sandman,
Obama is also in favor of weakening tenure, so don’t give us that B.S. I don’t want you to complain when education continues to get worse, and it will (under Obama or Romney). Obama will keep Duncan in his post and that will mean more corporate education reforms and unions will continue to crash. I agree Obama is better than Romney, but not by much.
If you truly care about education and sending it in the right direction, I would highly suggest checking out Jill Stein on the green party ticket. She won’t win, but wouldn’t you rather vote for someone that would change things? That way when education continues to go south, you won’t be on the side of all the complainers. Just something to think about…
Andy: Does Jill Stein have a chance to win? Or could she do what Ralph Nader for the country as an alternative candidate? You must choose between one of two candidates in the race. When voting for a 3rd party candidate, you are showing your anger at both of them but in this case you will be helping the worse of 2 evils for education but far more the worse of two evils for civil liberties and rights. Do you support overturning Roe v Wade? Do you support the overturning of the gains made by gay citizens? Do you want to discharge all the gays from military duty? Do you support the differential in tax policies for the 1% versus the rest of the country? I could go on and on…I cannot vote for a third party candidate when we must defeat the extreme right wing that today’s Republican party supports. Remember, Dr. Ravitch said there is no longer a moderate wing of the Republican party. So a vote for a third party is a vote for a right wing agenda in power. I live in Florida with many retired NYC teachers drawing big pensions and they all say that the pensions are ridiculous. They are all voting for Romney because they do not feel the younger teachers are not entitled to the benefits they enjoyed. Most of the seniors also feel that as long as their Medicare is protected, they don’t care what happens to the people under 55. This is not how I can live and I cannot support a fractional candidate without a real chance of winning. This is not Europe where they dole out seats by the percentage of vote and then form coalitions. We elect one President and he is one-third of our government.
I got taught enough of a lesson when I voted for Obama in 2008. One term is enough for me, thanks. He’s an incompetent liar, look at Bengazhi.
sandman,
This is in reply to your comment about Stein “pulling a Nader”. The idea that Nader was responsible for Gore’s defeat has been thoroughly debunked. Hell, he couldn’t even win his own state which would have made Florida irrelevent. No go on that one!
Sandman,
I’m not letting my anger get in the way. What I am doing is voting for someone who would actually get things done. Jill Stein is not a vote for the right-wing agenda because she won’t get enough votes to make much of a dent. I understand what you are saying about a Romney presidency, which I agree would be terrible, but the future of education in this country affects me a lot more than you (no offense), and I would rather be on the side of someone who would make a change. I don’t care if she loses, but at least I would not be on the side of complainers when everything continues to get worse.
One of the things that is most important for kids and schools is a strong economy based on equal opportunity and a respect for science and a belief in the importance of education.
I do not like Arne Duncan and some of the policies he’s followed. But I still think education is better off for Obama taking office in many ways tangible and intangible.
Obama believes in investing in science and technology. His ARRA ed jobs money saved an essential teaching position at our school, a position that was especially vulnerable that year. Because of that one-time money, our district has been able to keep that position and been able to maintain it since.
Obama’s changes to the student loans program make college more accessible. His health care plan is important to the clinics in our community and to ensuring our kids have access to health care.
Romney, I think, embodies the “your on your own” mentality for people of all ages, including kids.
And while I’m sure Jill Stein is an amazing person, if she were to be elected, I cannot imagine her platform would stand up to the buzzsaw that is the Congress and the Washington machine any better than Obama’s has. I actually think Obama has a better chance of enacting more of her platform than she would. I can appreciate why some people think a vote for her sends a strategic message, but to me, a vote for Obama sends my message better.
El,
You are entitled to your own opinion, but you can’t say Jill Stein would not stand up to Washington. If Stein was elected, she may run into the same problems as Obama, but I believe she would elect people to her cabinet who would do a good job and not because they are friends.
That’s the problem with Obama. He brought Duncan in because they were friends and felt he owed Arne this chance of a lifetime. He passed over Linda Darling-Hammond who would have been much better, and was originally part of his 08 campaign. You know why he passed over her? Because she was seen as too “teacher friendly”.
Anyway, like Dr. Ravitch said above: ” You make your judgement call, and I will make mine.”
The problem with Jill Stein is she really is in over her head on national politics. Her demeanor is a dead ringer for Sharron Angle, which is about as insulting as it gets. I voted for Rocky Anderson who, if he had started his third party run earlier, could have been on all of the state ballots and garnered millions of votes.
Every appointment Stein would make has to get through the congress, just as Obama’s had to.
Obama simply wasn’t a choice for me. I won’t vote for a fake Democrat who is willing to destroy public education to further enrich the billionaires who support its destruction. I seriously doubt Mitt Romney would do worse; at least the Democrats in Congress would act like Democrats and not be neutralized the way Obama has done with them.
I like Rocky Anderson as well. I think he and Jill Stein are both on the same page, and if they were both on the same ticket, that would be a powerhouse. He’s not on the ballot in my state, so I’m voting for Stein.
I am supporting Obama and think that third party efforts for president are not usually good uses of our energy, but we must remember that organizing must go on regardless of who wins. Michael Kazin has a good analysis and perspective on this. See below.
From Michael Kazin of Dissent Magazine
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/the-presidential-obsession
“Now that polls suggest there’s a fifty-fifty chance that Obama could actually lose, the obsession is saturated with anxiety. Nearly every liberal I know checks the polls every few hours and frets over each debate, as if the future of the republic depends on Obama winning a second term. (OK, I confess—I do it too.) But we should realize that merely electing, or re-electing, a progressive president has never been how lasting reform occurs. A one-term Obama administration might be considered a failure—but it would be a failure that liberals would be partly responsible for.
Every chief executive who signed major pieces of liberal legislation benefitted from thinkers, organizers, strategists, and grassroots insurgents who did their most critical work without the aid of an electoral college majority. The Social Security Act culminated over two decades of planning by such brilliant advocates as Louis Brandeis and Frances Perkins—and pressure from a movement of angry old people led by a charismatic physician named Francis Townsend. Only after years of violent mass strikes, including general strikes in San Francisco and Minneapolis in 1934, did Congress pass the National Labor Relations Act. Once workers got federal protection for organizing unions, lawmakers hoped, they would no longer need to pursue that goal by bringing production to a halt.”
Agreed: the organizing and the pressure can never end.
I live in a red state — Indiana…and no matter who I vote for Romney will get our electoral votes (at present leading in the polls by 13 points).
It’s true that President Obama is not a friend of public education. From my point of view he’s a moderate Republican in his behavior….as are most of the Democrats today
I will likely write in a vote for Jill Stein — though I haven’t decided yet.
OTOH, if I lived in a place where my vote might actually make a difference I would vote for President Obama in a heartbeat. There are only two candidates who actually have a chance of being elected — Romney and Obama. Whoever the next president is will nominate at least one and possibly more supreme court justices. I have no doubt that, should Romney win, the court will continue to be filled with Scalia’s and Thomas’s. That means decades more repressive, anti-women, anti-LGBT, anti-safety net, right wing interpretations of the constitution.
Obama may be bought and paid for by the corporate class looking to buy our public schools, but IMHO, the future of the court is the number one issue in this election. He’s the only one of the two candidates who will keep the supreme court from looking like the Inquisition [<- Hyperbole intended]
Being in a blue state, I will exercise my chance to vote my conscience with Stein. I feel betrayed by Obama, and I cannot vote for Romney. Both parties have abandoned us.
Conscience…a great topic, but do we all truly practice what we preach? Is it even possible to do that completely?
I wonder how many voters “voting their conscience” shop at Wal-mart and Sam’s Club or belong to Facebook. See…the Waltons and Mark Zuckerberg are supporters of privatization. So therefore, soliciting their business is, in effect, supporting privatization, is it not? Oh wait…what’s that you say? Facebook is free? Ah, yes, but you pay in some way. We are all paying. If you haven’t made that connection, Newark, NJ has, and now all of NJ will be paying while Newark paves the way to privatization on Zuckerberg’s dime. Your state is next, if it hasn’t already happened. So how many of you “conscience”-voters are going to stop using Facebook?
Is there one enemy that can do more damage? Well, it certainly is the choice of candidate who has promised to privatize public systems by effectively dismantling them. This cannot b allowed to happen for the sake of this country. I refuse to let my vote go wasted because I think I’m “making a statement.” Reality is not on the side of the third parties, honorable as they may be. Stein and any of the other third party candidates are not on anyone’s radar in this country except for a very small group of people. THAT is a crying shame because it proliferates the concept of the “haves” getting ahead in politics instead of “the little guy.” However, I don’t know upon whose ears these third party “statements” will fall. Therefore I refuse to waste my vote.
I don’t shop at Wal-mart/Sam’s Club. I don’t belong to Facebook, either, but I’m sure others won’t stop supporting these companies even though they are “following their conscience” in this election. So I say to these voters, “Congratulations–and thanks in advance for the vouchers!” I suppose I should start looking for another job now since those “voting their conscience” are going to allow Romney to take the Oval Office, appoint zealot justices to the SCOTUS and summarily see that the rights of all the ” little guys” are burned away, but quick. Please, keep voting your conscience. I’m going to scour the wanted ads after this election.
We would have to go to total subsistence living in order to do everything “by conscience.” A lot of those mom and pop shops people belong to the Chamber of Commerce. I don’t know how it is in other states, but they play a HUGE role in pushing these “reforms” in Florida.
Gee, Diane, I haven’t seen as many responses since the home-schooling debate! I respect those who feel they need to vote for Obama. If I were in a battleground state, I would vote for him. Coming from a small, blue state, I have the freedom to vote differently. I’ll probably be voting for Jill Stein.
Which kind of goes to my point…it’s impossible to live your life without throwing some sort of support to those whose views oppose yours on some issues. So you choose your battles. A Romney presidency would be far worse than any Obama one. The word “privatization” will be part of our daily lives if that man wins. Unfortunately, the third party candidates are powerless in this election.
Sorry, that response was for Teacher111. Somehow, it ended up in the wrong spot. I blame Bill Gates. 😛
That this has been such a complicated decision seems entirely our fault. Rather than standing up to the absurdities of how the education debate has been framed, we’ve allowed the unions to cave instead of using their political clout to force a reality check long several years ago. Why haven’t we called for Duncan’s firing on the grounds of gross incompetence. WE wasted endless opportunities to assert ourselves.
The differences among those who made the first 64 comments are substantial and meaningful. Some will be voting their conscience while others will be making a judgment call even if they have to hold their noses. I see the names of people with conflicting views that I have never met but from whom I have learned much and have come to respect.
To all of you, I humbly request that whatever you do on election day, keep returning to this online community, keep speaking out and organizing, keep the pressure on. I am reminded that when I was a child I was walking picket lines in front of Woolworth’s in Detroit protesting their discriminatory hiring and job practices. Looking back, I realize that the adult protesters I was with were an “impossible” mix of religious, political, and cultural sensibilities, but struggling for a great cause can make the “impossible,” possible.
It would be dishonest and self-defeating [and, I think, a violation of the spirit of Diane’s “house rules”] to pretend we are all in total agreement or not to bring those disagreements up when appropriate. But I sincerely believe that we are united in a great cause: “better education for all” as Diane reminds us on her website.
But, the “realists” among us might say, the resources available to the privateers and edubullies are immense and [in a paraphrase of the infamous Borg line from the Star Trek series] “resistance seems futile.”
This blog constantly reminds us that resistance to ArneRhee&Co might be hard but it is not futile, and a better education for all is not a pipe dream. Remember the old US army slogan: the difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.
We’re all just taking a little longer.
🙂
A vote for Obama is a vote for Arne Duncan.
Dr. Ravitch, I read your full statement and agree with your analysis about why it is important to vote for Obama. Many of my students rely on food stamps, live in public housing, and in many other ways count on that federal safety net. These are children. Their needs matter. Thank you for sharing your decision with your many readers.
As a teacher and a true Independent, I am disappointed in Diane’s post–especially with her presumably voting in a Blue state. We named our 4-year old, “Barack” in July 2008. As an African American male, I admire Obama in many ways. However, I think he and the Dems need to understand that educated folk make decisions that transcend partisanship or some Band-Aid approach to education. I think the rationale that supports Diane’s vote is partly the reason why the Arne Duncans of Democratic administrations can exist and we have to stomach neoliberal/neoconservative education policies. The rationale is part of the problem. Blogging opinions pales compared to the opinion via suffrage–the final opinion. Opinions in blogs may not survive the historical marathon. But, popular sovereignty will. Unfortunately, Diane’s post is just one more example that the people’s sovereignty is inextricably tied to the dichotomized political narratives from which we feed. Diane is no exception.
I would suggest to New Yorkers that the best way to support Obama is on the Working Families Party line. Your vote will be tallied for Obama in the Electoral College, but you send a pro union and progressive message to Obama and the Democrats. The WFP endorses and works for progressives in the Democratic primaries and then cross endorses them in the general election.. To learn more about the WFP, which exists in other states with fusion voting, go to http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/ For other states go to http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/about/wfp-in-other-states/
Given the corporate dominance of presidential elections, our greatest impact is on the local and state levels. We are stuck with Obama and Romney as choices and have to choose lesser of two evils. I don’t like this reality either.
Crazy Children’s book writer here…My character and I are both voting for Obama. ——————————————————————————————————- I am of no party. I don’t believe in parties. I think the Tea Party should be forced to disband. I grew up in a Massachusetts republican family where I only knew of one democratic candidate as either Dukarcass or Dukaka. :} No SuperPacs! I also think lobbying should be outlawed and lobbyist jailed – they do not work for the American people; they work for big corporations. Money should not drive an election and candidates should limited to equal budgets for their campaign. There should not be contributors from big corps ‘buying’ the election. I believe in individual, not money-driven, thinking and the heck with electoral voting – it is inaccurate in saying what America really wants! I have followed the election intensely. Maybe Obama didn’t get us where he promised in 3 years but what he did do is move in the right direction for the American people. And that is amazing as Nancy Pelosi when interviewed on Jon Stewart’s show stated the Republican Congress said they would NEVER work with Obama. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-25-2012/nancy-pelosi To me, this was their way of getting him out of office. That is not the responsible behavior for servicing the American people – their job and privilege! With Obama, I believe him, know what he stands for, can ‘see clearly’ his concrete plan, and know he and Michelle love America, want to ‘hold the door to success open to the person behind them’, educate our children for the future, and protect our seniors. And this statement about Obama picking losers – $80M invested in ‘Green’ but said half failed – not true, here is where Jon Stewart does his homework and presents the facts: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-october-25-2012-nancy-pelosi Obama’s invested 63 ‘Green’ ventures and only 5 failed or 8%, far from ‘half’. Bain Capital picked 77 ventures (not ‘Green’ as far as I know) and 22% went bankrupt or folded within 8 years. Furthermore, the opposition says Government should not be in the business of picking ‘winners and losers’ however they also said they would rebuild roads, etc. with our money which requires they have to pick ‘winners and losers’ to do so. I don’t care for ObamaCare because I lived RomneyCare in Massachusetts – which ObamaCare was designed after – the RomneyCare designers were actually brought on to design ObamaCare! And a message to all – religion should have anything to do with the election so stop the bashing and keep it to the person’s ability to lead our country to a better future. Religion, sexual preference, and women’s rights are none of the government’s business – focus on the country’s safety, people, and economy. And I think this stuff about Obama’s college records, etc. – Barbara Walters addressed the foolishness on the View to her long time friend. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/barbara-walters-tells-donald-trump-to-stop-embarrassing-himself/2012/10/25/96bcdc And you have to laugh at Stephen Colbert’s response to this with ‘real truth’ behind the opinion of foolishness, he was trying to convey behind comedy: http://storify.com/markhdaniell/stephen-colbert-makes-trump-a-tasty-offer He did the same thing about SuperPacs. I could go on but won’t – just do your own fact checking. I am a full-time writer because I was diagnosed with Lupus/large joint RA and could not work anymore – and I’m struggling to make a living. I am not taking handouts because others need it more. I did not take the stimulus. And any money I’ve had, I used to help family and friends in need. I may be broke right now but I know I will prosper eventually and have hope for, and can help those less fortunate than I with the help of Obama. Even rich, I will always think the same. Bill Gates thinks this way and he is one of the richest in the world, encouraging other billionaires to give to the poorest, and succeeding. http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/bill-gates-giving-pledge-15036283 I also think the ads are getting ridiculous and crippling everyone’s ability to think clearly. And all election ads SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISABLED during the Sandy disasters! My brother recently died at a young 58 and was sick for a long long time. The medicare program helped him in those days and I appreciate that. My children’s book series character, Duck Dillon, Quacks the Case: Vote for Obama and let’s keep moving FORWARD. Duck Dillon also Quacks to Congress to get to work for us – the American people, not themselves. You should not be paid until you get the job done for us – especially the middle class – the true foundation of America’s strength. Finally, Duck Dillon Quacks that he has a secret crush on Michelle so watch out Barack! :} Betty L’Ursula and her 2 cents. Do your homework to get the FACTS and vote based on FACTS alone. Duck Dillon lives at CreateSpace.com and has a summer home at Kobo.com. :} Note: I admit I am doing a dual purpose here – riding promoting Duck Dillon on the coattails of the highly read election blogs and that may make me a naughty person. Maybe I should run for president…. :} Forgive me as I did provide some good info with hard research.