Democrat Presidential Candidates Court Teacher Union Endorsements

Democrat presidential candidates (at least those left in the field) are still angling for the endorsement of the two most massive unions in the country, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.  Bitten by several situations in the last few elections, this year officials of both unions are taking their time to decide who will get their billions of dollars and millions donated in-kind contributions.    Larry Sand has the story on the California Policy Center.   He also looks at the repercussions of teacher union endorsements.   Look for Part 2 next week, when Larry focuses on the repercussions for Democrat presidential candidates if they DO receive the teacher unions’ nod and millions.

As I wrote in May, several of the Democratic presidential hopefuls were tripping over each other in an effort to secure the endorsement of the teachers unions. These candidates were most pointed in criticizing any form of school choice. Bernie Sanders assured us that charter schools “are led by unaccountable, private bodies, and their growth has drained funding from the public school system.” Elizabeth Warren, also ignoring the fact that charters are public schools, exclaimed, “Money for public schools should stay in public schools; it should not go anywhere else.” Cory Booker, while still mildly pro-charter insisted that he had turned against vouchers when he became mayor of Newark in 2006.g Comrade Bernie a few weeks ago.