Mike Klonsky says that most people have no idea what Trump’s ideas are about education. He keeps saying he wants to get rid of Common Core. “It’s a disaster,” he says, but somehow I would guess that he has never seen the CCSS standards and has no idea why they are “a disaster.” Maybe because the people he is courting don’t like them.
But Mike pulls together a number of statements that Trump has made about education. While they don’t add up to a coherent perspective or ideology, there is more to his approach than abolishing Common Core.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Donald Trump “thinks”?
Who knew.
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…..whether you agree or disagree with Trump, questioning his mental ability to “think” only makes you look silly. I’ve come here wondering what he “thinks” about education cause it is important to me…I totally agree that common core is a disaster and I believe the federal government has NO place in education …it should ALL be handled at the state level.
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How great is it for US public school kids that yet another billionaire who never attended public schools and may have never entered a US public school is weighing in on their public schools.
Can we please, please hear from someone from the public school side? Tens of millions of people attended public schools and currently attend them. It shouldn’t be so difficult to find ONE to speak on public schools.
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It ain’t about ideology, coherence or, God forbid, education: it’s all about unrestrained impulses and appetites, the Fox News Id turning on its master and devouring everything in sight.
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Great comment.
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Ha. You remind me of one pundit, typically on the conservative side, so disgusted by the Republican political mess that he used the term “Palinization” (Palinizing?) to explain the modern day Fox News syndrome: Where politicians will say anything just to get on Fox News.
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he said charters were great……they work…..at the debate last night..it was a programmed answer, not unlike something they made fun of Rubio, who probably has one…….it kind of made the candidates nervous, because they are pretty much on board with Obama and Gates, which none would dare say. The one thing Obama really needs to be clobbered with criticism for…….education…….free pass from GOP
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It’s also fun to watch these debates to hear all the many ways public schools suck, especially from the long-term ed reformers like John Kasich.
He’s been running public schools in Ohio for two terms. Maybe it’s time someone in ed reform admitted they completely and utterly dominate the political and policy side so much so that no one else is ever heard and stop pretending they’re some rogue force “outside” public education. They run our schools. When do they admit that?
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The press is just as uninformed as the candidates, pitching the original myth that that the CC standards were state-led, not recognizing why these were formulated, that they were mostly funded by Gates, etc. Then there was the ignorance from candidates who want to repeal or abolish the CC…as if that was a meaningful possibility. Chiara has the right theme, but if candidates do turn to the majority school system, they are sure to cite test scores, including those from OECD international tests (and propaganda). I wish that every candidate had to pass the tests that are being foisted on our students.
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“Chiara has the right theme, but if candidates do turn to the majority school system, they are sure to cite test scores, ”
EXCLUSIVELY test scores. The ONLY time public schools are mentioned is when someone is reciting test scores or planning new testing schemes or advocating ranking teachers by test scores or scolding parents to make sure their kids show up for “testing season”.
You know what “ed reform” means to public school parents, listening to them? Test scores. It’s literally the only time our schools are mentioned. Ed reformers say this themselves- the “movement” is described as “choice and accountability”. It isn’t an accident they never mention any positive benefits for kids in public schools. The thing was based and designed around a wholly negative frame for public schools. Our kids get the “accountability” portion. That’s it.
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I hope PARCC goes away forever in New Jersey very soon. Most states that once participated in PARCC have dropped out. Hopefully it is just a matter of time. One of the huge negative effects of PARCC is that it is driving “analog” education aside while most districts were insistent in administering PARCC on computer. They did not have to. PARCC administered on paper will help avoid expensive technology purchases and make the whole testing process logistically easier for all districts. I recommend all districts seriously consider ordering PARCC on paper. Recently published articles indicate students actually did better on the paper version of the test across the board.
The time, money, and resources that all districts invested across the country for students to take the test on computer amounts in billions of dollars. Districts have pushed “analog” education aside in the lowest grades in lieu of keyboarding and computer instruction to prepare them for computerized version of PARCC. Our youngest students would be better served tinkering and discovering dimensional reality, forming letters precisely with straight and curved lines and a dot here and there, and use their eyes to see into the wonderful depths of reality rather than a screen. I believe we build a far more capable student that way – a student destined to better employ technology in a much more effective way with a mind finely attuned to reality’s many nuances – later on.
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I watched the first part of the debate last night also. SCARY. He is appealing to t he worst instincts of human behavior. BUT the man is appealing to that BASE instinct and is very good at it.
It is NOT just in education. It is his whole manner of thinking. HOORAY for me. “I” will solve your problems.
What a difference between him and Bernie who says “I cannot do it by myself. WE together can solve them.”
Too, as mentioned today on the Diane Rehm show, there is among his followers at his rallys those who are willing to punch people etc. What kind of leadership is that?
Europeans are appalled at this loose cannon and rightly so. What kind of image is he portraying to our children and to the world? Anti whoever. AND The worst part is the number of people who see him as a savior, just like Hitler and other fascists.
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Pearson math advocates for calculators in second grade. Let Common Core go away forever.
The time, money, and resources that all districts invested across the country for students to take the test on computer amounts in billions of dollars. Districts have pushed “analog” education aside in the lowest grades in lieu of keyboarding and computer instruction to prepare them for computerized version of PARCC. Our youngest students would be better served tinkering and discovering dimensional reality, forming letters precisely with straight and curved lines and a dot here and there, and use their eyes to see into the wonderful depths of reality rather than a screen. I believe we build a far more capable student that way – a student destined to better employ technology in a much more effective way with a mind finely attuned to reality’s many nuances – later on.
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Are we ever going to get a debate in the US on whether the public wants to privatize public schools or will this continue to be presented as a done deal by politicians, public employees, and various lobbying groups?
It seems like something that should be debated publicly before we do something that can’t be undone and we’ll regret. I guess we’d need two sides or some difference of opinion, though. Can’t really have a debate when they’re all in lockstep agreement.
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…I do believe that the majority of people would want less involvement from the Federal level and more given to the state level …
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Really good article, Mike, pulling a lot of bits and pieces together. Trump’s education policy would be terrible, but I think it is in other spheres that he would be truly horrific.
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