(From Brookings) Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently released her long-awaited K-12 education plan, calling for a massive boost in federal spending on public schools and an end to federal support for charter school growth. Jon Valent of the Brown Center on Education Policy made the case for what the plan tells us about education politics and policy in the U.S. today. Here are a few takeaways:
- Warren's plan reflects democratic rebuke to Betsy Devos's tenure. This is most evident a call to end the federal Charter Schools Program and a pledge to replace DeVos with someone who “has been a public school teacher, believes in public education, and will listen to our public school teachers, parents, and students.
- Democrats provide rich, ambitious policy proposals in education but lack a clear framework for their ideas. "Warren’s plan is remarkably broad, deep, and ambitious, with plenty to like for those concerned about quality and equity in U.S. schools," says Valent. "But would [American voters] have a clear sense of Warren’s, or Democrats’, underlying vision for how to improve schools?"
- Teachers' unions remain a force in education politics even after the Supreme Court's Janus decision. In 2018, conservatives celebrated when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, prohibited public-employee labor unions from requiring nonmember workers to pay union fees. Warren's plan incorporates specific proposals that are likely of great interest to unions (e.g., keeping states from passing right-to-work laws and allowing only school districts to authorize charter schools).
- Democrats are open to major federal investments in education. With her Title I proposal, Warren proposes to“condition access … on states chipping in more funding, adopting more progressive funding formulas, and actually allocating funding consistently with these new formulas.”
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