Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a town hall on May 4, 2019 at the Fort Museum in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
May 18, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday unveiled the public education plan for his 2020 presidential campaign, calling for "a transformative investment in our children, our teachers, and our schools, and a fundamental re-thinking of the unjust and inequitable funding of our public education system."
The senator's "Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education" is named for the lawyer who successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education--the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that made racial segregation of public schools unconstitutional in 1954--before he joined the court as its first black justice more than a decade later.
Recalling Marshall's words from a dissenting opinion for Milliken v. Bradley--a case the high court ruled on in 1974--Sanders tweeted Saturday that he aims to "guarantee every person in our country a quality education as a fundamental human right."
\u201cThurgood Marshall said that all children have a right \u201cto an equal opportunity to reach their full potential as citizens."\n\nIn my view, the only way to accomplish that goal is to guarantee every person in our country a quality education as a fundamental human right.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558193781
According to the campaign page that lays out Sanders's plan, his broad goal is to address "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."
Improving education on a national scale requires, in the senator's view, banning new for-profit charter schools. As Common Dreams reported Friday, he is the first 2020 Democratic primary candidate to call for such a ban, and his proposal comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is working to increase the number charter schools.
The charter school moratorium is just part of the 10-point plan the senator officially put forward Saturday:
- Combating Racial Discrimination and School Segregation
- End the Unaccountable Profit-Motive of Charter Schools
- Equitable Funding for Public Schools
- Strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- Give Teachers a Much-Deserved Raise and Empower them to Teach
- Expand After-School/Summer Education Programs
- Universal School Meals
- Community Schools
- School Infrastructure
- Make Schools a Safe and Inclusive Place for All
Some of the specific proposals include boosting federal funding for community-driven desegregation efforts; expanding access to English as a second language instruction; increasing accountability for existing charter schools; and ensuring "schools in rural communities, indigenous communities, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories receive equitable funding."
Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats said on Twitter that the presidential candidate's plan "seems like the most aggressive national anti-segregation policy" proposed in decades, while others noted how it comes in "stark contrast" to the past positions of former Vice President Joe Biden, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
\u201cBernie\u2019s plan seems like the most aggressive national anti-segregation policy put forward since the 1970s.\n\n\u201cThe plan would try to revive the force of the federal government\u2019s efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to end the separation of students by race.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/BBp5dcs2g2\u201d— Waleed Shahid (@Waleed Shahid) 1558192543
\u201cIt's hard not to see the busing component of Sanders' plan, specifically, as a stark contrast to Joe Biden, who fought against busing and desegregation in the 1970s. (The law currently prohibits federal $$ from being used to fund busing.) https://t.co/wU3dvmrSso\u201d— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@Molly Hensley-Clancy) 1558189846
Under Sanders's plan, the federal government would spend $5 billion annually to expand access to summer and after-school programs, teen centers, and tutoring--and another $5 billion so community schools can "provide a holistic, full-service approach to learning and the well-being of our young people" through dental and mental health care, substance abuse prevention, community and youth organizing, job training classes, art spaces, GED, and ESL classes.
On the educator side, Sanders calls for increasing teacher pay "by working with states to set a starting salary for teachers at no less than $60,000 tied to cost of living, years of service, and other qualifications; and allowing states to go beyond that floor based on geographic cost of living."
\u201cIf we are a nation that can pay baseball players hundreds of millions of dollars, don't tell me we can't afford to pay teachers the salaries they deserve.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558198278
Sanders introduced his public education plan in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday. Watch:
\u201cI am proud to introduce my Thurgood Marshall Plan for A Quality Public Education for All. Read our plan to transform our education system here: https://t.co/3XojUVewly https://t.co/24uvOCjd5x\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558189923
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday unveiled the public education plan for his 2020 presidential campaign, calling for "a transformative investment in our children, our teachers, and our schools, and a fundamental re-thinking of the unjust and inequitable funding of our public education system."
The senator's "Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education" is named for the lawyer who successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education--the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that made racial segregation of public schools unconstitutional in 1954--before he joined the court as its first black justice more than a decade later.
Recalling Marshall's words from a dissenting opinion for Milliken v. Bradley--a case the high court ruled on in 1974--Sanders tweeted Saturday that he aims to "guarantee every person in our country a quality education as a fundamental human right."
\u201cThurgood Marshall said that all children have a right \u201cto an equal opportunity to reach their full potential as citizens."\n\nIn my view, the only way to accomplish that goal is to guarantee every person in our country a quality education as a fundamental human right.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558193781
According to the campaign page that lays out Sanders's plan, his broad goal is to address "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."
Improving education on a national scale requires, in the senator's view, banning new for-profit charter schools. As Common Dreams reported Friday, he is the first 2020 Democratic primary candidate to call for such a ban, and his proposal comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is working to increase the number charter schools.
The charter school moratorium is just part of the 10-point plan the senator officially put forward Saturday:
- Combating Racial Discrimination and School Segregation
- End the Unaccountable Profit-Motive of Charter Schools
- Equitable Funding for Public Schools
- Strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- Give Teachers a Much-Deserved Raise and Empower them to Teach
- Expand After-School/Summer Education Programs
- Universal School Meals
- Community Schools
- School Infrastructure
- Make Schools a Safe and Inclusive Place for All
Some of the specific proposals include boosting federal funding for community-driven desegregation efforts; expanding access to English as a second language instruction; increasing accountability for existing charter schools; and ensuring "schools in rural communities, indigenous communities, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories receive equitable funding."
Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats said on Twitter that the presidential candidate's plan "seems like the most aggressive national anti-segregation policy" proposed in decades, while others noted how it comes in "stark contrast" to the past positions of former Vice President Joe Biden, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
\u201cBernie\u2019s plan seems like the most aggressive national anti-segregation policy put forward since the 1970s.\n\n\u201cThe plan would try to revive the force of the federal government\u2019s efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to end the separation of students by race.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/BBp5dcs2g2\u201d— Waleed Shahid (@Waleed Shahid) 1558192543
\u201cIt's hard not to see the busing component of Sanders' plan, specifically, as a stark contrast to Joe Biden, who fought against busing and desegregation in the 1970s. (The law currently prohibits federal $$ from being used to fund busing.) https://t.co/wU3dvmrSso\u201d— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@Molly Hensley-Clancy) 1558189846
Under Sanders's plan, the federal government would spend $5 billion annually to expand access to summer and after-school programs, teen centers, and tutoring--and another $5 billion so community schools can "provide a holistic, full-service approach to learning and the well-being of our young people" through dental and mental health care, substance abuse prevention, community and youth organizing, job training classes, art spaces, GED, and ESL classes.
On the educator side, Sanders calls for increasing teacher pay "by working with states to set a starting salary for teachers at no less than $60,000 tied to cost of living, years of service, and other qualifications; and allowing states to go beyond that floor based on geographic cost of living."
\u201cIf we are a nation that can pay baseball players hundreds of millions of dollars, don't tell me we can't afford to pay teachers the salaries they deserve.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558198278
Sanders introduced his public education plan in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday. Watch:
\u201cI am proud to introduce my Thurgood Marshall Plan for A Quality Public Education for All. Read our plan to transform our education system here: https://t.co/3XojUVewly https://t.co/24uvOCjd5x\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558189923
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday unveiled the public education plan for his 2020 presidential campaign, calling for "a transformative investment in our children, our teachers, and our schools, and a fundamental re-thinking of the unjust and inequitable funding of our public education system."
The senator's "Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education" is named for the lawyer who successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education--the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that made racial segregation of public schools unconstitutional in 1954--before he joined the court as its first black justice more than a decade later.
Recalling Marshall's words from a dissenting opinion for Milliken v. Bradley--a case the high court ruled on in 1974--Sanders tweeted Saturday that he aims to "guarantee every person in our country a quality education as a fundamental human right."
\u201cThurgood Marshall said that all children have a right \u201cto an equal opportunity to reach their full potential as citizens."\n\nIn my view, the only way to accomplish that goal is to guarantee every person in our country a quality education as a fundamental human right.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558193781
According to the campaign page that lays out Sanders's plan, his broad goal is to address "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."
Improving education on a national scale requires, in the senator's view, banning new for-profit charter schools. As Common Dreams reported Friday, he is the first 2020 Democratic primary candidate to call for such a ban, and his proposal comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is working to increase the number charter schools.
The charter school moratorium is just part of the 10-point plan the senator officially put forward Saturday:
- Combating Racial Discrimination and School Segregation
- End the Unaccountable Profit-Motive of Charter Schools
- Equitable Funding for Public Schools
- Strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- Give Teachers a Much-Deserved Raise and Empower them to Teach
- Expand After-School/Summer Education Programs
- Universal School Meals
- Community Schools
- School Infrastructure
- Make Schools a Safe and Inclusive Place for All
Some of the specific proposals include boosting federal funding for community-driven desegregation efforts; expanding access to English as a second language instruction; increasing accountability for existing charter schools; and ensuring "schools in rural communities, indigenous communities, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories receive equitable funding."
Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats said on Twitter that the presidential candidate's plan "seems like the most aggressive national anti-segregation policy" proposed in decades, while others noted how it comes in "stark contrast" to the past positions of former Vice President Joe Biden, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
\u201cBernie\u2019s plan seems like the most aggressive national anti-segregation policy put forward since the 1970s.\n\n\u201cThe plan would try to revive the force of the federal government\u2019s efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to end the separation of students by race.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/BBp5dcs2g2\u201d— Waleed Shahid (@Waleed Shahid) 1558192543
\u201cIt's hard not to see the busing component of Sanders' plan, specifically, as a stark contrast to Joe Biden, who fought against busing and desegregation in the 1970s. (The law currently prohibits federal $$ from being used to fund busing.) https://t.co/wU3dvmrSso\u201d— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@Molly Hensley-Clancy) 1558189846
Under Sanders's plan, the federal government would spend $5 billion annually to expand access to summer and after-school programs, teen centers, and tutoring--and another $5 billion so community schools can "provide a holistic, full-service approach to learning and the well-being of our young people" through dental and mental health care, substance abuse prevention, community and youth organizing, job training classes, art spaces, GED, and ESL classes.
On the educator side, Sanders calls for increasing teacher pay "by working with states to set a starting salary for teachers at no less than $60,000 tied to cost of living, years of service, and other qualifications; and allowing states to go beyond that floor based on geographic cost of living."
\u201cIf we are a nation that can pay baseball players hundreds of millions of dollars, don't tell me we can't afford to pay teachers the salaries they deserve.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558198278
Sanders introduced his public education plan in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday. Watch:
\u201cI am proud to introduce my Thurgood Marshall Plan for A Quality Public Education for All. Read our plan to transform our education system here: https://t.co/3XojUVewly https://t.co/24uvOCjd5x\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1558189923
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.