Since the very beginning of campaigning for the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton has been viewed as a favorite of the educator population. Early on, Clinton cinched important endorsements from powerful teachers’ unions, including the National Education Association.
Yesterday, Clinton further discussed her views on education in her speech at the National Education Association Conference.
“Thank you for the insights that you have shared with me, not only through this campaign but going back many years. I want to say right from the outset, that I’m with you,” Clinton began as she spoke directly to the organization’s teachers.
“If I am fortunate to be elected president, educators will have a partner in the White House and you’ll always have a seat at the table,” she continued.
Clinton used the time to talk about her major education views, including her support of universal preschool for every child, something she made a pivotal part of her campaign early on.
“When we invest in education, we invest in our country’s future.”
While most of Clinton’s 30-minute speech was well-received by the crowd, she received some flack after she mentioned her support of public charter schools.
“Let’s focus on all our great schools… let’s replicate their success everywhere across America. And when schools get it right, whether they are traditional public schools or public charter schools, let’s figure out what’s working and share it with school’s across America,” she said to a thunderous round of boos.
She redeemed herself with the crowd immediately after when she said, “We've got no time for all these education wars where people from the outside try to force for-profit schools on our kids. We will never stand for that, that is not acceptable.
Clinton spoke significantly about supporting educators to provide them with more support and resources to in turn better support America’s children.
She touched briefly on many different hot topics in education at the moment, including supporting computer science in K-12 schools, the responsibility to educate all children equally, the importance of increasing access to high-speed and affordable Internet and even the necessity of raising teacher pay.
Clinton saved the end of her speech to talk about her opponent Donald Trump, touching on one of the few statements he has made concerning education policy thus far. Clinton argued against Trump’s intentions to disband the Department of Education as well as brought up the “Trump Effect,” or the tendency of his aggressive speeches to support bullying in schools.
Other notable quotes from Clinton’s speech include:
To read more about where Hillary Clinton stands on education, read here.
Nicole Gorman, Senior Education World Contributor
7/6/2016