Education Week - August 3, 2016 - 17

gressive wing, which has felt marginalized over the past eight years.
T he plat for m de c r ie s t e st based accountability systems
that "falsely and unfairly label
students of color, teachers, and
schools as failing," and affirms
parents' right to opt their children out of tests.
The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, both of which endorsed Clinton early on in the race,
are delighted with that language.
In fact, Lily Eskelsen García,
the NEA president, said on a
panel in Philadelphia that the
union could have written the platform. "I think we actually kind of
did," she added.
A nd Ga rcía sa id the forces
known in shorthand as the education reformers, who successfully
pushed for such Obama administration policies as teacher evaluation tied to student test scores, are
now out of favor.
"Their balloon is pffftt," she said
in an interview. "The corporate
model is crumbling of its own absurdity."

ture to create a $10 million grant
fund that would offer an extra
$ 500 per student to charters
that post better outcomes than
traditional public schools. And,
if Pence had his way, the funding would have
been even more
robust-he initially pitched
a $1,500 -percharter-school
student increase.
Pence a lso
GOV. MIKE PENCE
gave c h a r t er
schools access
to a $ 50 million fund to help
cover the cost of loans for school
construction or the purchase of
educational technology. And he
successfully called for lawmakers to raise the $4,800 cap on
vouchers for elementary school
students. (Now the cap will be
dependent on family income and
local school spending, as high
school vouchers already were.)
Pence also persuaded lawmakers

"We will rescue kids
from failing schools by
helping their parents
send them to a safe
school of their choice.
My opponent would
rather protect
bureaucrats than serve
American children."

Not everyone agrees.
Shavar Jeffries, the president of Education Reform
Now, a think tank associated with Democrats for
Education Reform, admitted that many of his allies
are uneasy about the next
presidency-especially since
	
-Donald Trump, in his
Republicans and teachers'
acceptance speech
unions teamed up last year
to pass the Every Student
Succeeds Act, which gives
states and districts much more platform hasn't reassured some
say over K-12 policy.
of Sanders' supporters, who fear
that Clinton would keep the status quo.
Long Game
"It's going to be four or eight
But Jeffries is also looking at the yea r s of t he sa me ga rba ge,"
long game.
said Alexis Salt, a Nevada del"There's going to be ups, there's egate supporting Sanders, and
going to be downs, there's going to a teacher at a middle school in
be fluctuations," he said. "Presi- Clark County, in an interview
dent Obama, we believe, produced early in the convention week.
historic change for children, and "More corporations getting their
any time you're transitioning lead- money. More charter schools.
ership you could obviously con- More choic e, a nd t hat t a kes
tinue progress, or there could be money from public education."
regression."
Meanwhile, Trump gave a quick
On the other side of the coin, plug for school choice when he acPAGE 18 >
even the prog ressive-friendly

to approve bonus pay for highly
effective teachers.

Policy Clashes
As a member of Congress from
2001 to 2013, Pence was decidedly against a strong federal
role in K-12 policy. Back in 2001,
Pence was one of just a handful
of lawmakers to vote against the
No Child Left Behind Act. The
law, which was overwhelmingly
popular at the time, represented
a serious expansion of the federal
footprint on K-12.
Later, as a leader of the Republican Study Committee, Pence
continued to criticize the law,
telling the National Journal back
in 2006 that it seemed like something former President Bill Clinton would have pushed through.
As Indiana governor, Pence in
2014 helped start a $10 million
preschool program in the state,
but demand has far outstripped
the program's capacity. Pence
initially refused to apply for up

to $80 million in federal funds,
through the Preschool Development Grant program, to help the
Hoosier State create more slots.
But heavy criticism of that refusal led him to reverse course
earlier this year and he wrote to
federal Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell to
ask for details on how to apply for
the funds.
Also as governor, Pence also has
clashed repeatedly with Indiana's
elected superintendent, Democrat Glenda Ritz. For instance,
Ritz wasn't happy when he created a new Center for Innovation
and Career Education, aimed at
strengthening ties between Indiana's schools and the private sector. Ritz saw the new agency as
stepping on her turf.
The agency creation led to tension between Ritz, Pence, and the
state board of education, especially over Indiana's A through F
grading system. Pence ultimately
dissolved the center, in part to
smooth things over.

Swikar Patel/Education Week

PARTY PLATFORM HIGHLIGHTS

Democratic

Republican

Equity: Says children in poverty should
be given the same opportunities as others
in the educational system, and opposes
test-based accountability systems that
"falsely and unfairly label students of
color," teachers, and schools.

Transgender Rights: Sharply
rebukes the recent federal guidance
on transgender students' access
to restrooms. States that Title IX's
protection against discrimination
on the basis of sex has been twisted
by the Obama administration
in an attempt "to reshape our
schools-and our entire society-to
fit the mold of an ideology alien to
America's history and traditions."
Adds that the administration's "edict
to the states concerning restrooms,
locker rooms, and other facilities is at
once illegal, dangerous, and ignores
privacy issues."

Testing: Pledges to end what it
calls the "test-and-punish version of
accountability" and encourages states
to "develop a multiple-measures
approach to assessment." Supports
parents' right to opt their children out of
standardized exams.
Charters and Choice: Gives a nod
to charter schools, with some caveats,
and opposes those run by for-profit
entities, stating: "We believe that highquality public charter schools should
provide options for parents, but should
not replace or destabilize traditional
public schools."
Transgender Rights: Comes out
against laws like North Carolina's that
deny transgender individuals the right
to use public facilities, like school
restrooms and locker rooms, that
match their gender identity and not
their one from birth. It states: "We will
oppose all state efforts to discriminate
against LGBT individuals, including
legislation that restricts the right to
access public spaces."
English-Language Learners: Says
the party will "expand access to Englishlanguage education" as part its efforts
to uphold the Obama administration's
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
and Deferred Action for Parents of
Americans, and to ensure opportunities
for undocumented students who came to
the United States as children.
'School-to-Prison Pipeline':
Pledges to "end the school-to-prison
pipeline and build a cradle-to-college
pipeline instead, where every child can
live up to his or her God-given potential."
Digital Access: In the name of
providing a better education, the platform
pledges to connect every household in the
country to high-speed internet.
Curricular Offerings: Pledges
continued support for arts and music
education programs in public schools.
Lead Poisoning: Says the party will
work to eradicate lead poisoning, "which
disproportionately impacts low-income
children and children of color and can
lead to lifelong health and educational
challenges."

Federal Aid: Criticizes the
amount of federal spending
on K-12 since 1965-the year
the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act was passed-and
states: "Clearly, if money were
the solution, our schools would be
problem-free. More money alone
does not necessarily equal better
performance."
School Choice: Recognizes a
variety of school choice programs,
including education savings
accounts, tax-credit scholarships,
and the District of Columbia's
opportunity scholarship program
(which distributes vouchers):
"We support options for learning,
including home schooling, career and
technical education, magnet schools,
charter schools, online learning, and
early-college high schools."
Student Data Privacy: Says the
"vast" collection of student data and
information without parental consent
or notice is "wholly incompatible with
the American experiment and our
inalienable rights."
Common Core State
Standards: "We encourage
the parents and educators who
are implementing alternatives to
common core, and congratulate
the states who have successfully
repealed it."
The Bible and Schools:
"A good understanding of the
Bible being indispensable for
the development of an educated
citizenry, we encourage state
legislatures to offer the Bible in a
literature curriculum as an elective
in America's high schools."
Local Control, Testing: Praises
local control over school policy,
rejection of "teaching to the test"
and excessive testing.

SOURCES: Democratic, Republican Platform Committees

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Education Week - August 3, 2016

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