Platform Watch: Vouchers Edition
I should probably read the new draft Democratic Platform at some point, because every time someone reads a part of it they seem to find something interesting. For example, Sara Mead notes that the new platform has dropped language about opposition to private school vouchers. Not, to be sure, in favor of embracing vouchers but instead the topic is gone. Overall it “has a stronger reform focus than the previous one, emphasizing that we need both reforms and resources to improve our public schools.”
It’s hard to know exactly what’s motivating the changes here, but the fact that the NEA strongly backed Hillary Clinton’s campaign seems like a likely factor to me with regard to these kind of things. The candidates didn’t stake out particularly different education approaches during the campaign, but the difference in underlying coalitions of supporters still probably makes a difference in terms of outcomes.
24 Responses to “Platform Watch: Vouchers Edition”
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August 15th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Matt, the NEA was conspicuous with it’s LACK of backing a candidate during the primaries. A few of the state affiliates helped out Clinton, but the NEA itself was not involved with any of the campaigns – for good or bad.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Is is just me or has there been a noticable increase in the number of posts that contain pictures? Not that I am against them – sometimes they are funny – but not EVERY post has to have a picture of bear or a school bus or what not.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Vouchers will not change American education. First, most parents who could use them can’t afford to ship their kids off to non-failing schools. There is no convenient service for them to use or they can’t drive the kids themselves. Second, even if they could ship their kids off, a large percentage of parents don’t want to. They like the idea of neighborhood schools and keeping their kids close. Some of them use older children as child care surrogates for their younger offspring. Right or wrong, it is what it is. Third, “good” schools have caps on student population that do not allow for a large-scale transfer of students from failing schools to successful ones. Either legal statutes prevents them from adding more kids or good sense does: small class sizes facilitate quality education. Duh.
Anyone who wants to get at this problem has to be willing to attack poverty–its immediate effects and cultural implications.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Arrrggh, Mattie me boy. Sorry not to have dropped by sooner, but I became lost in the series of tube that make up this here internet and spent the past week arguing denisity over at pornpipe.com. The crazy thing, it turns out we talking past each other the hole time, each er us meanin somethin different by “density.” Anyways, it be nice over here. I likes me the color scheme. Black and yeller, very piratical.
Anyhoo, I were involved intimately in the composin er the democratic party platform, an that voucher thing? Pure oversite, I can assure ye. Have ye seen how many pages that bastard weighs in at? Have ye considered all the topics on whcih we were supposed to have a policy fer. Do ye realize that the whole thing is just a meaningless formality, along the lines er wearing underwear to a funeral er something.
So, ye have called it to our attention. We’ll fix it, don’t ye worry. Maybe just fax over some verbiage that suits ye an we’ll just plug it in.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I’m more inclined to think that this is a reflection of the fact that vouchers are yesterday’s dumb idea and opposing them is now sort of pointless. I’m assuming you saw Greg Anrig’s epitaph for the voucher movement in Washington Monthly back in April.
August 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Does anyone give a shit what the platform says? I don’t.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
The NEA did not back Hillary Clinton during the primary and didn’t endorse anyone until June after Hillary had dropped out.
The AFT endorsed Clinton though, which represents teachers in New York City, I believe.
August 16th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Those folks ahead are right, the NEA didn’t endorse until its convention over the July 4th holiday. The AFT did endorse Clinton, and its base of support is generally large urban districts (New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, NYC, and Boston are all AFT locals).
Obama’s positions on education are certainly a little more edgy than what the leadership of the AFT and NEA are probably comfortable with–he supports talking about merit pay but qualifies it so that it must be negotiated between local teachers and districts (a must, if you ever want it to work in the real world)–but largely there’s not a lot of daylight between him and the two unions.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:01 am
What Jake H said. Nobody talks about vouchers anymore.
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