Has the Democratic Party reversed its attitude on charters?
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bennet wants you to know how much he cares—really cares—about education. Speaking at the Public Education Forum 2020, Bennet began his remarks by declaring he is “the first school superintendent in the history of America to run for president of the United States.” Bennet led the Denver school district from 2005 to 2009 before he was appointed to fill the state’s empty U.S. Senate seat. “Every single thing I do in the Senate runs through the lens of the kids that I used to work for in Denver,” he said.
Not that other Democratic presidential candidates at this strictly education-focused event weren’t equally intent on convincing the crowd they’re also deeply committed to educating the nation’s children. After all, the forum was sponsored and organized by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers along with some other labor unions and civil rights and education advocacy groups. An audience of 1,500 in attendance seemed to be comprised mostly of educators and former educators from across the country.
Seven candidates each took to the stage one after the other, including Bennet; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; billionaire activist Tom Steyer; former Vice President Joe Biden; and Senators Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. (New Jersey Senator Cory Booker had committed to attend but dropped out due to a bout of the flu.)
But Bennet at times seemed the most passionate among the candidates, raising his voice and jabbing the air on a number of occasions in response to questions from MSNBC’s Ali Velshi and Rehema Ellis and from the audience.
He accused his colleagues in Washington, D.C., especially in the Senate, of being out of touch, calling the Capitol’s marbled hallways “the farthest place in the universe” from the world of local schools. He claimed to be the only candidate in the race who had pledged CONTINUE READING: Has the Democratic Party reversed its attitude on charters? – Alternet.org
