Checker Finn of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute fears that the election of Donald Trump would be a disaster for education reforms like charters, vouchers, higher standards, harder tests, and test-based evaluations. Republicans might lose control of either or both houses of Congress. They might see governors and legislatures retaken by Democrats.
This is the best argument–maybe the only argument–I have heard for Trump. Can you imaginary the social reactionaries that Cruz might sweep in? We would go backwards a century.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Who’s next? Bill “Values” Bennett. With that, THE WASHINGTON POST neoconservative editorial cyclonic ranters will undoubtedly offer honorifics
to both early-on inveterate Private Voucher, Charter Tax Payer-Funded
public policy mercenaries—Checker Finn & Bill Bennett!?!
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Interesting laundry list of policies that Chester Finn defends as if he has superior wisdom on education. He does not have superior wisdom.
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Finn, Petrilli, and Pondiscio are nothing more than paid stooges. The very lucrative relationship they have with Bill and Melinda Gates has destroyed their credibility.
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What planet is Checker from? To quote Bugs Bunny: “what a maroon.”
Obama is no friend to public schools, so I worry about the next president, regardless of which side of the fence. I sure do hope it isn’t Hillary – I think the earth might just spontaneously combust. She thinks because we’ve had a black president, America is ready for her. America can’t afford her and Bill; she will be disastrous for the world. She belongs in jail.
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Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT give me a reason to tolerate the concept of a Trump presidency.
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Now if only we can bring back brick and mortar stores especially bookstores and real comic books death to digital books, comics-graphic novels, magazines, newspapers.
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Huh? Did I miss something?
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I agree
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“Though nothing in the list below is (from my perspective) perfect, it’s hard to picture many—perhaps any—of these things happening had Republicans not been in positions of influence”- Obama hired and kept Arne Duncan, and Bill Gates is a Democrat, too, isn’t he?
“Multiple experiments with nontraditional forms of education governance, such as ‘recovery districts’ ” – which have been a resounding failure everywhere.
“Serious efforts in many states and communities to implement forthright evaluations of teacher and administrator performance,” – yep, no teachers and administrators were ever evaluated before!
“Indeed, today’s deadlocked court failed just last month to overturn the Friedrichs decision, a serious blow to reformers in and beyond California who were striving to liberate teachers from mandatory contributions to their unions’ organizing activities.” – so many of us begging for liberation.
Diane, Checker’s a friend of yours, isn’t he? He needs to get out more and see some people!
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The only thing worse than a Trump presidency is a Hillary presidency. We have had three Bush administrations, two Clinton administrations and two Obama administrations,. The result? A shrinking middle class and multiple wars in the middle East. A vote for Hillary enables the status quo. Trump’s indefensible demeanor is not quite as bad as Hillary’s indefensible policy positions.
You want proof? Trump and Sanders both want to reinstate Glass-Steagall, oppose NAFTA and TPP,and opposed Iraq 2. Hillary takes the opposite position in each case.
Jim Webb and Susan Sarandon have stated that they would consider voting for Trump instead of Hillary for precisely these reasons.
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Even if Democrats take back Congress and/or various governorships, why would Finn worry about rephorm? It’s a fully bipartisan affair, so either way rephorm will do fine.
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Indeed, as currently constituted, so-called reform is impossible without the complicity of Democrats.
There may be issues where real differences exist between the two parties – judicial and adminitrative appointments, etc. – but when it comes to so-called education reform, the Overclass butters both sides of its bread.
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They don’t even need to butter two sides of the bread.
It’s a Möbius slice.
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TAGO! You have been hitting them right out of the ballpark!
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“Why Albert Einstein was wrong” by Checker Finnstein
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“We can expect Democrats to spend more on education, yes, but more of it will go to the education system’s innumerable first-, second-, and third-order hangers on—vendors, employees, factions, interest groups, and activist clusters.”
First of all it is interesting (and somewhat telling) that he considers employees to be “hangers on”!
While I agree that the corporate “reform” has reduced the spending on employees, all the other areas of corporate vendors, factions,interest groups, activists clusters and of course corporate management and charter school leasing fees have increased in their share of the educational money!
The Democrats can be bought for the same amount as Republicans!
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If Checker hates Trump, that is ALMOST a real reason to consider voting for him, assuming Sanders isn’t the Democratic nominee and doesn’t run as an independent and/or third party candidate. However, I’m not going that way. I’ll vote for Sanders or write him in.
Finn is almost a perfect reverse weather vane on most educational issues. He’s been wrong about so much for so long, particularly when it comes to what matters in mathematics education, that I would be hard-pressed to take his word or opinion on anything without a tractor-trailer of salt. The comments above are pretty much spot-on.
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Just the nomination of Trump as the Republican candidate would be a huge win for the Democrat Party.
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Donna, up there, has it right. What about DFER? We have way too many Dems in Name Only (D.I.N.O.s) &, insofar as public education is concerned, no doubt that Obama was on that bandwagon–& so will HRC be, along w/all those superdelegates supporting her.
Let’s not lose sight of the big picture, & this is one of the best arguments for a Bernie presidency.
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Well, I suspect that Trump simply hasn’t given it any thought. If wealthy folks who appeal to his prodigious ego try to get him on the side of charter schools, etc., I imagine he’d be thrilled and it would become his new opinion.
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Trump already said in one of the debates that he loves charter schools. Not sure if he knows what they are
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