The Republican National Convention and Education: What to Watch For
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ESSA. Congress. State chiefs. School spending. Elections. Education Week reporters keep watch on education policy and politics in the nation’s capital and in the states. Read more from this blog.
The Republican National Convention kicks off July 18 and culminates with the nomination of the party’s candidate on July 21. And both halves of Politics K-12 are in Cleveland. We will be blogging, tweeting, taking video, interviewing folks with a connection to K-12, and giving you breaking analysis of how education is playing out here.
So what should you be watching for this week? The list of speakers includes some folks with a background on K-12 policy, like Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, and some not so much, like pro-golfer Natalie Gulbis or Tiffany Trump, the daughter of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Walker: Walker, is of course, famous for his efforts to strip public employees—including teachers—of their collective bargaining rights, in part because he believed that ending teacher tenure can ensure that schools get to keep the best educators.
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida: Scott has also tangled with teachers’ unions and championed a “parent trigger” law, which would allow parents to vote to turn a district school into a charter.
And of course, Trump’s vice-presidential pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is a fan of school choice and hates the Common Core State Standards. Either of those issues could come up in his speech Wednesday. More on Pence’s record here.
Other notable speakers may be keeping their education records, umm...quieter.
• Given that Trump has made it clear he’s no fan of high levels of education spending, Sen. Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia is probably not going to be talking about her strong support for the Head Start early-childhood education program.
Curious to see how this convention stacks up to the coming Democratic one? Andrew and I will be in Philadelphia, too, for the Democrats’ gathering July 25-28. The first night will feature Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who some teachers still wish had gotten the support of their unions, as well as DREAMER Astrid Silva.
The second night will feature President Bill Clinton, and also the mothers of a number of folks who have been shot by police officers, including: Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, and Lezley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will also be speaking.
See Where the Candidates Stand
In the meantime, click here for an interactive look at how the presumptive GOP and Democratic nominees stack up, issue-by-issue on K-12 policy.