Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and any Other Candidate Seeking Teacher Votes
Stop Ignoring K12 Education
By Anthony Cody.
I just received an issue survey from Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. It asks which issues I want him to focus on. The twenty issues listed include a $15 minimum wage, combatting climate change, affordable housing and more. The only thing on the list related to education is Free College. There is no mention of K12 education at all. Sanders is not alone in this regard. I wrote about the same problem back in 2015, when “Bold Progressives” offered a similar survey.
Sanders and other candidates are missing a huge opportunity to engage one of the largest, most well organized constituencies in the US today – teachers. There are about five million teachers in our nation, and most of them belong to a union. Teachers have come alive in the past year, through a series of strikes – in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Los Angeles, Oakland. Denver, and beyond. The issues often went beyond pay. Teachers were fighting back against vouchers, charters, and for smaller class sizes. Both Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders sent their support to the Oakland teachers during their strike, but we need to see support for policies that will help our schools.
A focus on K12 education has created a real problem for some Democratic Party candidates, who have flat out been wrong on some of these issues. Cory Booker, for example, has been a strong supporter of school choice and charter schools. Elizabeth Warren has been a supporter of high stakes tests. The Network for Public Education Action has created a site that tracks the positions of leading candidates, and awards CONTINUE READING: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and any Other Candidate Seeking Teacher Votes - Living in Dialogue