I invited teacher-blogger Rachel Levy, a Virginia resident, to give her appraisal of Tim Kaine.
Rachel Levy grew up in Washington, DC, about a mile from the Vice President’s residence, but has lived in Virginia for 14 of the past 16 years, and in the Richmond area for the past 7. In that time, she has been a public school teacher, an education writer and blogger at All Things Education, a private preschool teacher, a public school parent, and is currently a PhD student at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Education (go Rams!) studying educational leadership and policy.
She writes:
In light of Hillary Clinton’s recent choice for Vice President, Diane asked me to write something about Tim Kaine and Anne Holton. If you want to read about Senator Kaine’s education policy views and actions, and about his experiences sending his children to public schools, you can go here and here. If you want to read about Secretary Holton’s life and career, you can go here and here. If you want to see what Diane had to say about the pair, go here. Although, all of those things are important to me as a parent, as a public education advocate, and as an apprentice policy scholar, I am going to talk about general insights and impressions here.
I don’t know Tim Kaine or Anne Holton personally. I voted for Tim Kaine when he ran for Governor and I voted for him again when he ran for the U.S. Senate. The way he discussed how he navigated holding the personal views he does versus the requirements of his job as a political leader resonated with me, particularly vis a vis women’s reproductive rights. But otherwise, I didn’t know that much about him. Then, a few years ago, I went to hear him speak at Randolph-Macon College (go Yellow Jackets!) where my husband is a professor of psychology. I went because I am politically active, because I wanted to hear what one of the political leaders in my state had to say, and well, because I live walking distance from RMC. I wasn’t prepared at all to be impressed or inspired. I was prepared to be hear spin and to be marketed to. But afterwards, I was deeply impressed. I had never heard a politician speak so earnestly and so frankly. He told his story. What stood out the most was his emphasis on local politics. He didn’t seem to see local political work as grunt work you have to do to get to next level; he saw it as the most important type of work you can do, serving the public and serving your community. Many liberals have ceded the local political arena, the place where decisions happen that most impact your day-to-day life, to conservatives. Say what you will about the Tea Party but they show up to Board of Supervisors and School Board meetings, they use the democratic process. Too many liberals brush off local politics, as well as the decision-makers themselves, as too boring, too provincial, not glamorous enough. In doing so, they ignore the perspectives of local decision makers, and they fail to assert influence and fail to participate meaningfully in the civic life of their communities. Tim Kaine talked about the importance of local politics, about the importance of understanding the perspectives of constituents and of fellow decision-makers who might have different opinions, and of working with them. He spoke directly to the students, urging them to go into local politics. That was the only thing he was selling. I left his speaking engagement feeling good for once about a politician, proud, even, to have a political leader like him in charge and in my state. I felt hopeful.
As someone who also kept her name when she got married, I would like to point out that Anne Holton kept her name when she got married and that Tim Kaine married a woman who kept her name. I know that seems like a small detail, but it’s symbolic and says something about both of them. Even so, I was skeptical when Tim Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton was appointed Secretary of Education. Oh great, I said, another well-intentioned but clueless non-educator coming in and telling educators what to do. However, the more I read about how she was brought up and about her as a person and a professional, the more impressed I grew with her. And then as I heard her policy ideas, my wariness wore off and I became reassured. Subsequently, this past semester, I was lucky enough to complete an externship with the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS). I met Secretary Holton once or twice very briefly and certainly she was warm and friendly. But what really impressed me was hearing her address education stakeholders, which I had the pleasure of doing on a number of occasions. It wasn’t her speaking style that impressed me, it was her command of the policies and their implications. She is thoughtful about educational practice and genuinely cares about the success of all children and wants them to have a rich and meaningful learning experience. She listens to stakeholders. One occasion in particular has stayed with me. During the legislative session at the Virginia General Assembly, she and a very conservative state senator were both giving public comment in support of the same bill, and it was a good bill. However, while he referred to “failing schools,” she referred to “challenged schools.” She did not use deficit discourse or make it sound as if the issues were inherent to the people in the schools with lower test scores or the schools themselves. She did not take on the legislator’s language to try to get the bill passed, but she didn’t throw out her office’s support of the bill, either. Also just the fact that she was there was notable. She wasn’t phoning it in. She took her work and her role seriously.
By the way, Anne Holton stepped down after her husband’s selection as Clinton’s running mate, so she can help him.
The biggest criticisms I have heard about Tim Kaine is that he’s “anti-union,” too “pro-Wall Street,” and not enough of an advocate for climate change. If he said he supported Virginia’s Right to Work laws, I don’t know if that makes him “anti-union” or if it means he was supporting existing laws in the state he was elected to govern because it would be political suicide otherwise (and I don’t hear the VEA complaining about his candidacy.) Also, it is worth noting that he has a 96% positive rating from the AFL-CIO.
But maybe he is anti-union, not wary enough of Wall Street, and not concerned enough about climate change. Maybe you don’t agree with him on many things, but if his history as a local and state politician are any indication, he will listen, he will learn, he will roll his sleeves up, and he will try to do right by the public. If he has done it in the case of public education, which he has, I believe he can do it in the case of other public democratic institutions and matters. You can look at Kaine’s candidacy through the lens of the national media and national political organizations or you can look at it through the lens of the Virginians he served, like me, and public servants he served with, all of whom have overwhelming positive things to say. His record on higher education is strong.
Look, I am unabashedly pro-union and pro-labor. I am deeply apprehensive about Wall Street’s power. I am profoundly concerned about climate change (which I see as the defining issue of our time). I voted for Bernie. But Bernie didn’t win. Hillary did and she picked a genuine, smart, hard-working VP. Both Tim Kaine and Anne Holton are thoughtful, caring people—thoughtful about their positions they hold, about the policies they enact or implement, about how those intersect with their personal views. They are not climbers or elitists. They have unapologetically and unwaveringly dedicated their lives to being public servants, to serving their country, state, and local communities. Isn’t that at least in part what Bernie Sanders campaign was all about? We rarely see someone like Tim Kaine in politics and now we have the chance to have him serve as Vice President of our country. It’s time to stop working against him and start envisioning what can be done when he starts working with us.
That’s a really nice endorsement of Tim Kaine, as a politician, and more importantly, as a person.
I found this on Mr. Kaine’s Wikipedia page. “Kaine was born at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the eldest of three sons[1][2] born to Mary Kathleen (née Burns), a home economics TEACHER, and Albert Alexander Kaine, Jr., a welder and the owner of a small iron-working shop.” Perhaps as a teacher’s son he saw the commitment and dedication his mother gave to her students. Maybe he knows and understands how hard teachers work, and this insight has helped to shape his policy. Perhaps being the son of a blue collar worker taught how to work hard and be responsible. Perhaps he represents those “heartland values” President Obama spoke so eloquently about. I appreciate that Kaine understands the difference between personal choice and woman’s right to choose. He has already proven himself to be an asset to Hillary in this campaign, and if he helps her lock up Virginia. so much the better.
Kaine does not seem intimidated by Trump as his speech last night proved. It is not that difficult to go after Trump. All a candidate has to do is recount all the lies, unethical business practice, and his refusal to let us see his tax returns, and any reasonable American should see Trump for small minded, twisted megalomaniac he is.
Kaine also has an “F” rating from the NRA, which, in my opinion, is a plus.
This is all very helpful info…thanks Diane et al. The first hand account paints a picture of the Second Couple that is reassuring for educators…and voters. I am sending this to my lists.
thanks for this, it really solidifies my support for this guy
I love this! I also love that they both kept their own names (which my husband and I did- married 19 years)! Go Clinton/Kaine!!!
He seems like a nice guy and he exhibits a subtle comedic touch that I really appreciate. But this is just a VP pick. A VP is a person who goes around giving rousing speeches to groups with whom the President is afraid to be associated too closely, like unions and teachers, so I guess he’ll do for that.
JA, Did anyone tell William Henry Harrison that Tyler was “just a VP pick”?
Every now and again the canoe tips over — what can you do?
Thank you, Rachel. This is very helpful and a true public service.
“Urban school districts in Pennsylvania face a particularly cruel logic.
They serve the poorest, most needy students, yet, when it comes to state funding per pupil, most of them don’t make the top of the list.
That dynamic has come to a head in the city of Erie, where leaders of one of the largest school systems in the state are contemplating closing all high schools.
In early June, busloads of people from the Gem City made the nearly five hour trek to Harrisburg to deliver a simple message to any lawmaker who would listen.”
‘Any lawmaker who would listen’ – they have to beg to get one of them to LISTEN to them, let alone provide basic support for their schools.
Why are public schools doing so poorly under ed reform leadership at the state and federal level?
Thousands of paid ed reform advocates, hundreds of DC ‘orgs” supposedly devoted to ‘public education’ and hundreds of “movement” ed reform politicians at all levels of government yet PUBLIC SCHOOLS have never recovered from the financial crash. They are worse off now than they were in 2009.
Do they not care about existing public schools or are they just lousy advocates?
Hello. Anyone home? Remember public schools? What you all ran on and promised to “improve”? I know Erie PA isn’t a fashionable or up and coming area of the country but this is ridiculous. They’re entitled to a free public high school. Do they have to go to a court? Is their elected federal and state government functioning at all?
http://crossroads.newsworks.org/keystone-crossroads/item/95600-erie-public-schools-a-district-on-the-brink?l=mt
Thank you for providing this close up perspective!
Listening to him speak last night, I love one thing especially: Tim Kaine and Anne Holton chose urban public schools for their children for the same reason my husband and I have for our children. Diversity is better than division.
As a fellow Virginian, public school advocate, and Sanders supporter, I agree with Rachel. Rachel and I met in person at a Rally for Education called ‘Put Kids First’, sponsored by the VEA and the Virginia PTA. Tim Kaine and Anne Holton were the only Virginia policy makers brave and caring enough to attend the Rally that day and that spoke volumes in my view. Holton has been a champion for kids in my state and as Rachel said, she attends all types of meetings and events concerning children, all across the state. Before the passage of ESSA, I spoke with Tim Kaine about the need to end high stakes testing and he earnestly agreed with me. I’m hearing from many teachers in my state and they believe he’s a positive pick for VP.
So helpful to hear from teachers in Virginia who have actually interacted with Kaine. The rest of us around the country really need this info. Thanks. He and his wife obviously walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
Thanks Diane for brining this information to the table. Tim Kaine seems like a fine choice from the perspective of a public school advocate. But what will it mean, what does it signal? If he wins, let’s see who her Sec of Ed choice is and what policies she pursues. Here is my guess—cosmetic changes to TPP and then support for it….vague assurances about “good charter schools” and more of the same, with perhaps less open hostility than we’ve seen from Obama. We can’t afford to be placated by symbolic gestures.
Chuck,
Hillary may give a nod to charter schools. She may continue Obama’s disastrous policies in education. Trump will eliminate public funding for public schools. He loves charters….loves, loves, loves them. Is there a difference? Yes. Hillary went to public schools. Trump did not. The Republican party seems to hate public schools. I think there is a difference.
I agree with you Diane and will vote for HRC. At the same time, if she is elected we must be relentless advocates for public education because of the forces aligned against us—and to some extent with her.
Agreed, Chuck
Having a hard-working V.P., with his heart and brain in the right place, must be good for the country. Some may equate that with Joe Biden’s service (his wife, also an educator)?
Apparently, it takes a great deal more for the middle class to catch a break. Bloomberg speaking at the DNC, bit of a concern?
Trump is too flawed to be president and his vice-president is a Koch man, which disqualifies him. Stein can’t win.
Is optimism for the future warranted?
Linda,
Bloomberg is not on my Hit Parade, but he did a great job of eviscerating Trump’s claim to be a successful businessman. His “successes” seem to require stepping on the backs of little people, for whom he has no regard.
Agree.
Bloomberg could have been asked to make his statement in other places, rather than at the meeting of the “party of the people”.
IMO, he got the platform because his Republican economic policy loyalty matches the future of the Democratic Party. The party’s rhetoric is that of the people but, its policies serve plutocrats and oligarchs. If Hillary proclaims that the Aspen Institute has no place influencing the US, Dept. of Ed., while she is in office, I would have a glimmer of hope.
IMO having Bloomberg, who is donating vast amounts of money to influence school board elections to install charter supporters (over $1 Million in LA), was a good move. His comment told it all.
“I’m from NY and I know a CON when I see one” said Bloomberg last night.
It is better for education to have access to this ‘too smart’ guy who can buy and sell Trump. If he stumps for Hillary/Kaine he can influence others who are Repubs that Trump is a disaster.
Gosh, i mean no disrespect, and if you like them, good on ya’, but no, just no. I don’t know what you say anymore, Hillary has succeeded in pulling the wool down just as much as her opponent. This country is in trouble either way. I believe in your work, Diane, but NO politician is on our side, period. I hope that you continue as the rest of us must, because this election will change nothing, whichever way it goes.
Forgive the typos, folks, I had to post on my phone rather quickly.
James,
Hillary is not the perfect candidate, but if you can’t see the difference between her and Trump, we disagree. I think Trump is a dangerous and ignorant demagogue. Yes, things can get much, much worse. If you feel okay about a Trump Supreme Court, be sure to vote for him or sit home.
James, as important as education is, it is not the most important thing. Keeping a mean, unscrupulous lunatic out of the presidency is the most important thing. The entire planet will have great reason to rue the election of Donald Trump. Please recalibrate your sense of perspective.
Exactly, Ponderosa.
If nothing else, we can thank Anne Holton for the term “challenged ” in regard to our struggling schools.
Thanks for sharing this perspective. I agree that Trump is a dangerous and ignorant demagogue.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/terry-mcauliffe-hillary-clinton-tpp-trade-226253
(There is also an article in this morning’s Times about the money folks back in action, even before the dust settles in Philly.)
If this Politico article is accurate, we are naive if we put much value on endorsements, or on the uplifting words people utter at these conventions. If this article is accurate, we ought to go after Hillary immediately after she puts her hand on the Bible at her inauguration. Watch what she does, not what she says. Why would we believe we can trust her?
It is naive to believe that she will turn DFER away from its strategic course. She is more Bloomberg than Sanders. Face up to it.
However, Steve, this is the latest from Daily Kos and it paints the pic more broadly about the clear and present danger that Trump offers us.
As Ponderosa stated, this choice is more than an education issue. And Diane gave us the info on NATO and the Baltic nations which Putin is on the edge of invading in order to incorporate them into greater Russia. Trump is helping him to do that.
————————————————————-
“Putin is giving aid and comfort to Trump. Today we found out why.
#MakeRussiaGreatAgain
The big news today is that Trump explicitly urged Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s e-mail — i.e., to commit an act of espionage and cyberwar against the former Secretary of State and the current nominee for one of America’s major political parties. It goes without saying that this is shocking, unprecedented, and beyond the pale.
But it’s not inexplicable. Trump’s coziness with Russia in general and Putin in particular has become a feature of this campaign. We know that his campaign manager, Manafort, has disturbingly close ties to Russian interests. We know that Trump never fails to praise Putin, an autocrat, at every given turn. And we know that Russia reciprocates the love. There is a growing consensus in the intelligence community that Russia was behind the DNC hack, which shows that Russia and Putin believe that a Trump victory is in their best interests.
All of the above has been discussed at length in the media in recent days. One question that has gotten less attention is why. Why does Putin want Trump to win so badly? What is it about Trump that is so appealing to the Kremlin?
Trump answered that today. This aspect of his disastrous press conference has gotten less attention than his call for a foreign power to spy on his political adversaries, but it explains why he has Putin’s support:
Donald Trump said Wednesday that, if he is elected president, he would consider recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and lifting the sanctions against Russia.
At a wide-ranging news conference, Trump said he “would be looking into that” when asked about his stance on Crimea and Russia. The Crimean Peninsula has been part of Ukraine for decades, but Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the territory in March 2014 after a popular revolt toppled Kiev’s pro-Russian government.
http://www.politico.com/…comments
This is jaw dropping. The annexation of Crimea violated international law and sparked a prolonged and bloody conflict in the Ukraine. It was an unacceptable act of aggression that has no place in a post-WWII world. But here Trump is, ready to “look into” giving it his official stamp of approval.
We knew Putin wanted Trump to win. Now we know why. Trump will not only turn a blind eye towards Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. He will excuse, allow, and enable it.
The stakes of this election are unfathomable. Trump must be stopped at all costs.
Update: Timaeus makes a great point. Trump has been bleating for months that he’s interested in reducing American support to NATO. What he said today is simply a more explicit version of what he’s been saying along. Trump is just fine letting our European allies fend for themselves.”
Ellen,
I disagreed with Diane on the Balkans yesterday I presented her with a link to a Mark Weisbrot article in the Hill yesterday . I will re-post it.
But here is the gist of my argument . Foreign policy is not about good guys and bad guys it is about perceived national interest . The Balkans and before them the former satellite nations of Eastern Europe may not want to be under the heal of Russia as many of the pink tide nations of Latin America would like to be free of American domination. Undoubtedly from Nicaragua to Honduras to Chile to hard and soft coups Venezuela to Argentina and Brazil our policy can not be described as non interventionist . Certainly many of these Nations would love for us to stay the hell away.
The cold war ended in 1991 the Russian economy was disaster..
In the 90s we were expanding NATO into the former Soviet Block. Diane said they wanted us there . Fair enough but Russia didn’t, Yeltsin receiving internal pressures objected. But it is not just Putin and Yeltsin, Gorbachev has voice objection as well . “In 1996, Gorbachev wrote in his Memoirs, that “during the negotiations on the unification of Germany they gave assurances that NATO would not extend its zone of operation to the east,”
My argument is turn the scenario around. We would sit Calmly if the Canadians formed a defense pact with Russia and Russian troops took positions along the St Lawrence Seaway . The President visits Cuba and the Republicans are ready to Impeach him . We are on the verge of rekindling the cold war the tinder is already lit. A cold war that could go hot.
Here is the Link . The links in the piece include one by Kissinger certainly no lefty ,
http://cepr.net/publications/op-eds-columns/attacking-trump-for-the-few-sensible-things-he-says-is-bad-politics-and-bad-strategy
Edit heel
Thank you Rachel. A good choice by Diane for some additional insights.
Yes! We can! Let’s do it!!!
Thank you for your thoughtful and informative perspective on Tim Kaine as a person and as a politician.
Thank you Dr. Ravitch for your keen invitation of a public educator and true Bernie supporter to write this WONDERFUL information.
This is the best reassurance information in the past many days.
Anyone try to sow a doubt on VP couple, shame on you. Back2basic
This is very interesting information, and I wish that Diane could meet with Tim Kaine now and become one of his education policy advisors. It sounds like Kaine and the people around him could understand the public education issues. It would be very good to have someone near the White House who does.