Democratic presidential hopefuls detail plans for education at Pittsburgh forum - The Washington Post

Democratic presidential hopefuls detail plans for education at Pittsburgh forum - The Washington Post

Democratic presidential hopefuls detail plans for education at Pittsburgh forum

PITTSBURGH — Candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president gathered Saturday for a forum on education and described their plans to tackle major challenges besetting U.S. schools: student debt, segregation and teacher pay. Their questioners included teachers, elementary school students, parents and school janitors.

The forum — sponsored by teachers unions, civil rights groups and MSNBC — marked one of the few times the candidates have spoken about their plans for the nation’s schools beyond sound bites. The candidates addressed a mostly friendly crowd — the audience was there by invitation — and hewed closely to the teacher unions’ own agenda, speaking of reducing testing, boosting school spending and raising teacher salaries. Charter school advocates complained they were locked out of the forum and organized a protest outside the convention center where the event was staged.

The forum was called Education and Equity for All, and the candidates shared how they would tackle inequality in education, which is driven in large measure by how education is paid for in the nation.

Funding for a child’s school is largely dependent on the wealth of the surrounding community. U.S. schools, once envisioned as great equalizers, have become broadly unequal, with black and brown students disproportionately enrolled in schools that don’t have enough resources. Students from wealthier school systems are many times more likely to attend college than children who go to school in districts with fewer resources.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he wants to rethink the use of property taxes to fund schools, although it is unclear how he would revise school funding. Communities rely largely on property taxes to cover the cost of educating their children.

Report finds $23 billion racial funding gap for schools

In struggling communities, he said, “the property tax does not provide the kind of funding that the schools need.”

“We’ve got to break our dependence on the property tax . . . and make sure that every school district in this country gets the funding they need,” Sanders said. CONTINUE READING: Democratic presidential hopefuls detail plans for education at Pittsburgh forum - The Washington Post