I wa despairing because no prominent candidate has mentioned education. Kamala Harris spoke about public schools and teachers when she addressed the AFT yesterday in Houston. I expected that. She went to public schools and has always supported them, and that’s what a candidate says to a nation Union of teachers.
But on Jen Psaki’s show on MSNBC, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota denounced vouchers and book bans. I had never seen him speak. He was excellent! Please watch.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Good morning Diane and everyone,
I believe Tim Walz was a public school teacher and coach. 🙂
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Walz is a good communicator, personable and funny. He is down to earth, speaks clearly and freely, and he is very relatable to members of the working class. He was in the military, worked in manufacturing, and he is a former social studies teacher according to Wikipedia. I hope he is considered for the VP slot. He values public education.
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James Carville says Walz & MANY other good Dems constitute a coordinated team of Heavy Hitters for this upcoming campaign season.
“You find me somebody more talented than (Voucher Advocate) Josh Shapiro/PA or Georgia’s Warnock or Maryland’s Wes Moore or KY’s Andy Beshear or Gretchen Whitmer, Mitch Landrieu, Roy Copper/NC. These are some staggeringly talented politicians. If they ever got out in the open and people saw them, holy moly. The greatest myth in American politics is — I hear this all the time — well James, we don’t have any bench. Are you shitting me? We got a bench that’s 100. The whole sideline is our bench.”
He also mentioned Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4146142-james-carvilles-uncensored-thoughts-on-trump-no-labels-and-democrats-future/
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Not Jared Polis. He is a zealous supporter of charter schools—he opened two himself. He recently spoke to the far-right ALEC when it met in Colorado.
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More about Jared Polis. In 2010, when my book DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM: HOW TESTING AND CHOICE ARE UNDERMINING EDUCATION appeared, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro invited me to DC to meet with the House Education Committee. There were about 20 + people in a conference room. Polis was one of them. He had a copy of my book. He literally threw it across the table, saying loudly “This is the worst book I’ve ever read! I want my money back.” One of the other members gave him $20 and took the book. He subsequently called me an “evil woman” on Twitter because I opposed charter schools. The book became a national bestseller.
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!!!!!
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We need to get the message to Carville about Polis. What nonsense to put him in the same category as Walz. I think the AFT sent its position on Shapiro to Harris already, but Polis should be a big nope for the Dems. We don’t need a corporate-backed, privatizing Democrat on the national stage—or on any stage. This is a non-negotiable issue for the party.
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What I’ve learned about Gov. Tim Walz from TV, Twitter and Wiki, I like what I see. He fully understands public education, taught for 20 years as a Social Studies teacher, has 2 kids, and is an excellent and relatable communicator. He’s dedicated to communities, free breakfast/lunch for school kids, affordable housing…..a humanitarian.
I hope Randi – AFT & Kamala Harris team look at him carefully.
Pro-Choice and 60 years old.
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Above comment from Hanna Hurley
(can’t figure out how to get my name on my comments)
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I had the same name problem when Word Press updated software, and I was locked for a couple of days. I also had an assigned user name. To change it follow this: To update your account’s username, take the following steps: Click on your profile at https://wordpress.com/me. On the left side, click on Account Settings. In the box labeled Username, type the new username you wish to use for your account. Hope this helps.
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retired teacher…..THANKS for the directions.
Hoping it’s corrected now.
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Yes, Hanna, you are now correctly identified.
Now if only someone could tell me how to unlock my Twitter account.
No human to talk to. Just a bot that tells me I’m too young to be on X.
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Diane,
Missing you on Twitter.
It’s odd that we can still cc you on ‘X’ at your old address. Is Elon singling out some of us?
Could you open up a new X address?
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Hanna, I have submitted multiple requests to get my account unlocked. They send form letters saying my request was rejected.
It is locked because I am not old enough to use Twitter.
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Hanna,
I didn’t know anything about Gov. Walz until I heard he was on Kamala’s short list. I read about him and was impressed by his rural roots, his views, his experience. A friend wrote to tell me he supports community schools and public schools. Then I saw this clip and I was blown away. He’s my candidate.
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Dianne, he’s made for our support and rescue of public education. One more thing, he is very vocal about the damage of book banning.
He’s one of us! Take a look at his Twitter posts.
Let’s support a closer look at Gov. Tim Walz……asap.
Hanna
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Tim Walz has been very outspoken about vouchers, private schools, charters and the the fact that public funds are being syphoned from public schools.
Hanna Hurley
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Too many donors are connected to privatization. It’s time to cut that cord. I think it’s significant that Harris embraced teachers early. Maybe the voucher worm has turned.
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Money undermines democracy. Citizen’s United allows billionaires to hide their donations to campaigns and other groups like ALEC.
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Walz is great.
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He was great! He slammed JD and his supposed link to rural America. I loved how he spoke about his HS History teacher and called him out by name. That was a very good interview.
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Walz was a social studies teacher for 20 years.
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I know! And he is a veteran. He is the complete package! But any time I hear a public figure talk about how their public school teachers impacted their lives, I get kinda teary.
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