How Two Opt-Out Leaders View the Presidential Race
The testing opt-out movement—and progressive voices on K-12—have big plans to expand their influence after the passage of the Every Student Succeds Act, the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
So how do a couple of the opt-out movement's leaders view the 2016 presidential race?
Diane Ravitch, the president of the Network for Public Education and a leading voice against the use of high-stakes tests, acknowledged to me that when it comes to Democratic candidates, most of her blog's readers, at least, prefer Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Sanders shared his views on "privately run" charter schools and public school funding, voiced during a recent town hall event:
That isn't the first time Sanders has criticized charters. Consider his comments in that video side-by-side with his response to an American Federation of Teachers "Election 2016" questionnaire, in which Sanders wrote that he thought charters schools should be held to the same standards as traditional public schools, and that those standards should be extended to both nonprofit and for-profit charter management organizations.
And Sanders has caught fire with progressives in other ways. You may also remember that Stephen Sawchuk zeroed in on dissatisfaction among some National Education Association members in particular when the NEA endorsed Clinton in the Democratic primary last year, instead of giving more serious consideration to Sanders. Recall also that the AFT backed Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary over Obama, and the NEA didn't endorse Obama until the general election.
Still, Ravitch gave credit to Clinton for her recent critical remarks about some charter schools. She said people shouldn't view those critical statements as a cynical political shift; there's simply more information available about charter schools today for Clinton to consider, Ravitch said, than several years ago.
So in the end, does Ravitch have a preference in the presidential contest? She does—she'll back How Two Opt-Out Leaders View the Presidential Race - Politics K-12 - Education Week: