The Washington Post asked Clinton, Trump for their education vision. Here’s what they said.
The Washington Post asked the two major presidential candidates — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump — to respond to an identical series of questions about their vision and plans for public schools should they become president of the United States.
Public education is one of the most important issues the country faces, but there has been little discussion about it during this campaign cycle. The Post’s education team asked questions about a number of topics, including school funding, school choice, standardized testing, early-childhood education and the Common Core State Standards. And we asked some personal questions, including whether they ever cheated in school.
Trump’s campaign declined requests to answer the Post’s questions and instead provided the following comment and said it preferred “to direct voters to Mr. Trump’s plan” on his website. Here is Trump’s response as provided by Jessica Ditto, the candidate’s deputy communications director:
“As your president, I will be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice. I want every single inner city child in America who is today trapped in a failing school to have the freedom – the civil right – to attend the school of their choice. I understand many stale old politicians will resist. But it’s time for our country to start thinking big once again. We spend too much time quibbling over the smallest words, when we should spend our time dreaming about the great adventures that lie ahead.”
Clinton’s campaign responded to the questions. Here are the questions we asked of both candidates, with Clinton’s responses:
FUNDING
Q: Local school districts in the United States are funded primarily by property taxes, meaning that every district spends a different amount per student and wealthier districts have more to spend. Is this system fair? If not, how would you change it to ensure that funding equity?
Clinton: I believe that every child deserves a world-class education, with good teachers and The Washington Post asked Clinton, Trump for their education vision. Here’s what they said. - The Washington Post:
