Hillary Clinton rebukes charter schools
The decades-long proponent of charters criticizes the schools for cherry-picking kids.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded less like a decades-long supporter of charter schools over the weekend and more like a teachers union president when she argued that most of these schools “don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them.”
Her comments in South Carolina came straight from charter school critics’ playbook and distanced her from the legacies of her husband, former President Bill Clinton — credited with creating a federal stream of money to launch charters around the country — and President Barack Obama, whose administration has dangled federal incentives to push states to become more charter friendly.
The change in tone on charter schools mirrors other moves Clinton has made to nail down the support of liberal blocs in the face of the progressive challenge of Bernie Sanders, including her recent decision to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And like her reservations about free trade, her new rebuke of charter schools suggests she’ll be less willing to challenge core Democratic constituencies than either her husband or Obama.
Teachers unions have been early and enthusiastic supporters of Clinton. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, a noted opponent of many education reform efforts, is a longtime friend and informal adviser to her campaign. Unions say they aren’t anti-charter but often attack the schools, a majority of which employ teachers who aren't unionized, accusing them of siphoning off money from traditional public schools.
"Hillary Clinton looks at the evidence. That's what she did here,” Weingarten told POLITICO. “She called out that many charters don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids or don’t keep those with academic or behavioral issues.”
In contrast, the Democratic advocacy group Education Reform Now posted a statement from Director Charles Barone, who wrote that Clinton’s recent comments were “highly disappointing and seemed to reinforce fears about how her endorsements from both major teachers unions would affect her K-12 platform.”
Unions, along with some traditional school administrators and parents, have long charged that charter schools too often reject or push out special needs students or other kids perceived to be troublesome. The issue exploded recently in New York City when high-profile charter operator and former council member Eva Moskowitz conceded that one of her Success Academy campuses was found with a “got-to-go” list naming children considered to be difficult.
Jesse Ferguson, a Clinton campaign spokesman, did not address the evolution in Clinton’s views, but instead said Monday that she had for decades “been a strong supporter of both public charter schools and an unflinching advocate for traditional public schools.”
Clinton won endorsements from the country’s two major teachers unions over the objections of some rank-and-file members who questioned her education priorities, including her long history of support for charter schools. The backing of the AFT and especially the 3-million-strong National Education Association — the nation’s largest union — gave her a welcome boost ahead of the Democrats’ first debate, as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was gaining momentum and Vice President Joe Biden was seriously considering a run.
Clinton has shied away from campaigning on K-12 issues, which tend to divide crucial elements of her party — unions and education reformers. But her newest
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/hillary-clinton-charter-schools-education-215661#ixzz3r6QetXQV
