The new education plan from Sen. Bernie Sanders is an all-you-can-eat buffet for teachers鈥� unions, backers of school integration, and supporters of traditional public schools. But fans of charter schools don鈥檛 get a seat at the table.
It鈥檚 perhaps the broadest plan for education any 2020 candidate has released so far. For that and other reasons, it will be very tough for Sanders to turn it into a reality.
A $60,000 minimum salary for all teachers that follows applause for recent strikes. A national floor for per-pupil spending. A commitment for Washington to cover half the costs of special education. A tripling of to nearly $48 billion. A pledge to execute federal desegregation orders.
In all, the Vermont lawmaker鈥檚 , released by the 2020 presidential candidate on Saturday, covers those and a huge number of other K-12 issues. His plan ranges from specified spending increases to promises to protect black students from unfairly falling into the 鈥渟chool-to-prison pipeline鈥� and the juvenile-justice system. He unveiled the plan the day after the 65th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 historic Brown v. Board of Education ruling, during a speech in South Carolina, an early-primary state in 2020 with a large share of black Democratic voters. , although he fared better among their younger counterparts.
Leaks about the plan on Friday touched off fierce debates about the place of charter schools in the Democratic Party, which isn鈥檛 the same as it was when President Barack Obama and his education team promoted charters.
Addressing the 鈥楽erious Crisis鈥� in Education
The plan, named for the U.S. Supreme Court justice and famed civil rights attorney, is so broad and ambitious that it鈥檚 hard to see how a lot, or even the vast majority of it gets done. Even if Sanders wins the presidency and the Democrats retain the House and鈥攊mprobably鈥攁chieve a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, it would be tough. for the U.S. Department of Education that reaches nearly $76 billion, yet it falls short of Sanders鈥� vision by tens of billions of dollars. And many of Sanders鈥� big ideas would need approval from Congress or a sign-on from states first.
Yet narrower ideas from Sanders鈥� Democratic rivals wouldn鈥檛 be easy wins either; think of of the , D-Calif., for example. And Sanders鈥� Thurgood Marshall Plan is bound to excite portions of the Democratic base who don鈥檛 look back on the last primary very fondly.
Remember: After the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association backed Hillary Clinton early on in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, some union members were upset, . Sanders didn鈥檛 talk much about K-12 in 2016. might have designed his vision for schools to put pressure not just on his opponents, but on unions, especially during their endorsement process. AFT President Randi Weingarten after its release.
Take a look at actual plan. Inspiring.
1) Focus on racial discrimination
2) Finally addressing for-profit charters
3) Equitable funding
4) Strengthening IDEA
5) Give Teachers a Raise鈥� Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten)
鈥淏ernie鈥檚 education plan addresses the serious crisis in our education system by reducing racial and economic segregation in our public school system, attracting the best and the brightest educational professionals to teach in our classrooms, and reestablishing a positive learning environment for students in our K-12 schools,鈥� his website states.
Taking Charter Schools Down a Peg
In his plan, Sanders makes it clear he really wants to rein in charters, and blasts their 鈥渦nregulated growth.鈥� He wants a moratorium on new charter schools until a national 鈥渁udit鈥� of charters is wrapped up. He seeks to ban 鈥渇or profit鈥� charters (some charters are operated by for-profit entities). And he wants to halt public funding for new charter schools.
And he wants changes for the ones that stick around. They鈥檇 have to have the same 鈥渙versight鈥� as traditional public schools. And for each charter school management board, half would have to consist of parents and teachers. (Charters are publicly funded, tuition-free, independently managed schools. More here.)
In 2016, , a call Sanders is directly echoing here. And he might also be leaning on a 2018 Education Department Office of the Inspector General鈥檚 report stating that .
There鈥檚 no direct federal path to accomplish these proposals, however. Right now, the Education Department provides $440 million to help charter schools get off the ground and for other aid to charters. Yet states still control a big part of the policy Sanders is addressing here. Another detail: Charter schools run by for-profit entities , according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Here鈥檚 Democrats for Education Reform鈥檚 Charles Barone, who captured some of the pushback to Sanders from charter school supporters:
When 鈦︹仼 says he wants a moratorium on public what it really means is fewer students making significant academic progress in states and cities like these. More on charter outcomes here:
鈥� Charles Barone (@CharlesBarone)
Less than four years ago, although his exact meaning was unclear. And some Democrats remain charter school fans; recent polling by Democrats for Education Reform . Yet Sanders is likely making a bet that support for charter schools among Democratic primary voters has shrunk to the point where his attacks on them won鈥檛 hurt him much.
鈥淲e do not need two schools systems; we need to invest in our public schools system,鈥� Sanders said in his plan. With this phrase, Sanders places charters somewhere outside the realm of publc schools.
But what specifically does Sanders, who鈥檚 technically an independent in the Senate but caucuses with the Democrats, want for education? Let鈥檚 look at a few key elements from several categories:
Teachers
- Sanders says he鈥檒l 鈥渨ork with states鈥� to ensure teachers earn a salary of no less than $60,000 鈥渢ied to cost of living, years of service,鈥� and other factors. Closely related to this, he plans to expand collective bargaining.
- He wants to triple the tax deduction teachers can currently take for their personal expenditures on things like classroom supplies. Right now that federal deduction is $250. (Lawmakers considered eliminating this deduction in the GOP-led 2017 tax legislation but ultimately left it alone.)
Desegregation and Civil Rights
- Sanders says his administration would build on the (passed by the House education committee on Thursday but far from a done deal) and provide money to help school desegregation efforts, fund transportation to aid in desegregating schools, and provide $1 billion in annual federal aid to magnet schools. It鈥檚 also a shot across the bow of Joe Biden, one of Sanders鈥� top primary rivals who opposed busing as an integration strategy decades ago and hasn鈥檛 changed his views.
- Sanders also promises to address disciplinary practices that 鈥渄isproportionately affect Black children.鈥� That鈥檚 a reference to . He also says his Education Department鈥檚 office for civil rights won鈥檛 鈥渁rbitrarily dismiss鈥� complaints; although he wants to increase funding for that office, he doesn鈥檛 say by how much.
School Funding
- The senator keeps two key pledges here pretty vague: He wants to 鈥渞ethink the link between property taxes and education funding鈥� and 鈥渆stablish a national per-pupil spending floor.鈥� He doesn鈥檛 say how he鈥檇 rethink or break the link regarding property taxes and K-12 funding鈥攑erhaps because the president has no direct power over those fiscal arrangements. (Sen. Kamala Harris said something similar at an AFT town hall earlier this month.) And Sanders doesn鈥檛 say what that per-pupil funding floor would be.
- Sanders also wants to 鈥渟hrink class sizes鈥� and spend $5 billion annually on career and technical education. Right now, the Education Department spends $1.2 billion on CTE.
Need a visual for just how much more spending Sanders wants? Here鈥檚 your answer in chart form: