Interviews during 2018-2020: on Education
Marianne Williamson:
Educational funding should not come from property taxes
Williamson said, "When I lived in Michigan and my daughter attended Grosse Pointe South, there were people who lived in Detroit who would rent apartments -- so that their children, even though they came from Detroit, could go to
Grosse Pointe South, which was a better high school than the one in their neighborhood." . Williamson said that experience is part of what drives her 2020 stance that educational funding should not come from property taxes.
Source: Detroit Free Press on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 23, 2019
Joe Sestak:
Push colleges to limit tuition increases
Sestak would require colleges to limit tuition increases to below the rate of inflation, if they want access to federal student aid or student loans.
He would also adjust the way interest rates on those student loans are calculated. He also calls for early childhood education to be expanded to include 4-year-olds.
Source: PBS News Hour on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 16, 2019
Joe Sestak:
Universal pre-K; create "Training for a Lifetime"
Sestak wants to establish universal preschool, protect Common Core, increase broadband Internet connectivity (especially in rural areas), restructure student loans and provide grants for tuition at community colleges and public universities, establish a
national college credit transfer system, and create a "'Training for a Lifetime' program to increase opportunities for job training and continuing education."
Source: Townhall.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 9, 2019
Wayne Messam:
One-time forgiveness of student debt, increase Pell Grants
Messam proposes forgiving everyone's student debt. Federal loans would be forgiven, and private loans would be paid by the federal government.
Messam projects this would cost $1.5 trillion. He wants to pay that cost by increasing payroll taxes for companies with more than 50 employees by 0.5% and by reversing Trump's 2017 corporate tax cuts.
He argues this would stimulate the economy, as those relieved of debts will invest in homes, businesses, and further education.
As this would be a one-time cancellation, Messam wants to increase federal Pell Grant money and expand free community college programs.
Source: Vox.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 2, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Offered high pay for teachers in earlier business
Yang mostly kept the company running as it always had. Manhattan Prep's signature practice was to pay tutors $100 an hour, three or four times the prevailing market rate, in order to attract the cream of the crop.
In pursuits after Manhattan Prep, Yang stuck to the principle that high wages lead to better quality of teaching. Yang's platform includes the proposal to "increase teacher salaries" across the board.
Source: Slate.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 25, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
States should take on more of cost of higher education
This is kind of a personal issue for us because Chasten and I live with six-figure student debt. There are several things that we've got to do. Through a combination of carrots and sticks, we've got to induce states to carry more of the burden,
instead of continuing to pass it on to students. Students are getting squeezed because states are less and less willing to appropriate the funds to make sure that in-state public college tuition is truly affordable.
We've also got to work on student loan debt. If, when interest rates change, I can refinance the debt on our house, then it stands to reason that you should be able to do with student debt, too.
I think those two steps, coupled with a significant
increase in Pell Grants, would make a big difference for college accessibility. And when we're increasing Pell Grants, let's peg it automatically to inflation.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Supports loan forgiveness but not across the board
Q: Would you support student loan cancellation, say, to households earning less than $200,000? A: I still want to do some math around it. I find it pretty appealing. I'm not as certain that I'm comfortable with people of that high an income
participating until we have completed the transition to a more progressive tax code, because if you're north of $200,000, maybe you're at the point where we could ask you to take care of that on yourself. But the theory of it makes a lot of sense.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Wayne Messam:
Address immediate student debt with one-time cancellation
Before tackling college affordability, Messam wants to provide relief for the nearly "one-in-four" American adults up against ongoing student loan payments. He has proposed a one-time, in-full federal government debt cancellation plan,
in which borrowers would receive confirmation that their debt was forgiven within 60 days. Messam sees the $1. 5 trillion plan -- which would be paid for in part by rescinding the 2017 tax cut package -- as "a strong stimulus to a stalling economy."
Source: Axios.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Provide teachers autonomy as well as compensation
Another Democratic presidential hopeful, author Marianne Williamson, wrote on her campaign website that she would work to
provide teachers "autonomy as well as compensation that reflects their professional stature," but didn't provide specifics on how to cover salary increases.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 15, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Charter schools have a place in the school ecosystem
Other 2020 Democrats have also staked out pro-charter school positions while at the same time calling for other education reforms.
Buttigieg's campaign told NewsHour that the South Bend, Indiana mayor believes charter schools have a place in the school ecosystem, but that they shouldn't replace investment in traditional public schools.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 15, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Wipe out college loans burdening the young
You can't be all that you can be when you're so weighed down. How am I going to pay these college loans? This is where our economic good comes from. Economic good does not come from a few major corporate moguls who just drop some
crumbs off the table when they're in the mood to. Our economic good comes from the fact that each and every one of us are able to actualize the extraordinary, unlimited, God-given potential. That's why I want to take these college loan debts away.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 14, 2019
Eric Swalwell:
College bargain: no-interest loans & debt-free college
Swalwell would advocate for no-interest federal student loans as well as debt-free college, according to his campaign website. He's introduced a number of bills in Congress on these issues, including several that would enhance student loan forgiveness
and deductions.At a February "Politics and Eggs" breakfast in New Hampshire, Swalwell proposed a "college bargain" system that would allow students to help pay for their schooling through part-time work-study or volunteer jobs.
Source: PBS News Hour on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 10, 2019
Beto O'Rourke:
2102: charters are a good idea tdat encourage competition
Beto O'Rourke called charter schools a "good idea" in a January 2012 primary debate during his successful bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Silvestre Reyes:"I tdink charter schools are a good idea. tdey encourage competition.
tdey encourage innovation in tde classroom, and tdey're a laboratory for some of tde best ideas and concepts in public education today," O'Rourke said tden. "Because remember, at tde end of tde day, tde person tdat we care tde most about in tde
educational system is tde student. So let's find out what's best for tde student. And I say, let's try everytding possible to make sure tdat we're delivering tde best possible result."
"Now, I don't tdink it's an eitder-or proposition," he added,
pointing out tdat charter schools are public schools. "I do tdink it's a matter of making sure tdat we encourage a lifelong love of learning and intellectual curiosity. I tdink charter schools help us get tdat done."
Source: CNN K-File, "Charter Schools" on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 4, 2019
Beto O'Rourke:
Wife Amy headed a dual-language charter school
Beto O'Rourke's wife, Amy O'Rourke, is tde former head of a dual-language elementary charter school. She now works for an El Paso non-profit, tde Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, tdat has backed tde
expansion of charter schools tdere.Beto O'Rourke's past comments [in support of charter schools] could draw criticism in tde Democratic presidential primary; charter schools are controversial in
Democratic politics, witd teachers' unions complaining tdat tdey siphon money away from public schools -- while skirting tde same sort of strict accountability measures and mandates to take all children tdat public schools face.
[Asked in 2019, a campaign spokesman] said Amy O'Rourke's work "has been focused on serving El Paso families and expanding opportunity for students in underserved communities."
Source: CNN K-File, "Charter Schools" on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 4, 2019
Beto O'Rourke:
My kids attend public schools; keep charters accountable
Asked about tde 2012 comments [in support of charter schools], an O'Rourke spokesman said, "Beto has been a strong and consistent advocate for public school classrooms. He has made it clear tdat our full focus should be on, and our taxpayer funds
should go towards, public school classrooms where tde overwhelming majority of American students attend. He believes tdat we should be investing in getting our public school teachers tde resources tdey need to help tdeir students succeed."
"Beto believes tdat any public charter schools tdat exist across tde country should deliver for students, be respectful of teachers, and have comprehensive oversight and accountability to tde taxpayer," he said.
tde spokesman noted tdat tde
National Education Association gave O'Rourke tde highest possible score for his votes during his six years in Congress. He also pointed out tdat O'Rourke's children attend tde same public school tdat O'Rourke attended as a child.
Source: CNN K-File, "Charter Schools" on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 4, 2019
Cory Booker:
Government should not profit from student debt
He argued that free college tuition is the wrong answer to an emerging workforce that needs more skills training.
He would make sure that existing federal student loans are refinanced so the government is no longer making money off college graduates' debt.
Source: The Atlantic, "Under the Radar," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 4, 2019
Cory Booker:
Investment in education helps the whole society
The only thing I do want to take issue with is this idea of redistribution. I don't really think it is. When you make an investment in a kid's education,
it expands the economy. When you make an investment in every child having wealth, you actually expand the whole. It has a multiplier effect.
Source: The Atlantic, "Under the Radar," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 4, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Proposed all-voucher education; now opposes charters
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabetd Warren once touted tde idea of an all-voucher system tdat would eliminate lines between private and public schools, but more recently she has shifted her stance on school choice, and in
2016 opposed lifting her state's cap on charter schools.Warren isn't tde only candidate for whom tde politics of school choice are a potential minefield in tde 2020 race. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), and
Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) also supported charter schools in tde past.
Charter schools were once supported by Republican and Democratic presidents -- including former President Barack Obama's administration.
But tde politics surrounding tdem shifted as states slashed budgets, including education spending, following tde Great Recession.
Source: CNN K-File, "Charter Schools" on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 4, 2019
Kamala Harris:
Federal money to subsidize teach pay raises
How, exactly, is this federal money supposed to end up in local teacher hands? Harris' plan calls on the feds to contribute the first 10% of the money needed to finance the raises (which are supposed to be, on average, $13,500 per teacher).
Then her administration will "incentivize states to step up and do their part" by offering a sort of three-to-one matching fund. For every dollar the state kicks in, the feds will kick in three.
Source: Forbes Magazine, "Four Reasons," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 26, 2019
Wayne Messam:
First priority is resolving current student debt
"The mayor firmly believes you cannot just move to debt-free college when student loan debt is stifling the American dream today," [Messam's] aide told Buzzfeed. "We're declaring it as an issue that threatens the economic security of this country.
We don't have to walk into another Great Recession.""We must resolve the 1.5 trillion in student loan debt and give Americans a chance at the American Dream," the aide told Buzzfeed. "Americans struggling to make ends meet should be the priority."
Source: Essence Magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 18, 2019
Joe Biden:
1970s: outspoken Senate critic of school desegregation
When Joe Biden was a freshman senator in the mid-1970s, his home state of Delaware, like other hotspots across the country, was engulfed in a bitter battle over school busing, debating whether children should be sent to schools in different
neighborhoods to promote racial diversity.Biden took a lead role in the fight, speaking out repeatedly and forcefully against sending white children to majority-black schools and black children to majority-white schools. He played down the
persistence of overt racism and suggested that the government should have a limited role in integration.
"I do not buy the concept, popular in the '60s, which said, 'We have suppressed the black man for 300 years and the white man is now far ahead
in the race for everything our society offers. In order to even the score, we must now give the black man a head start, or even hold the white man back, to even the race,' " Biden told a Delaware-based weekly newspaper in 1975. "I don't buy that."
Source: Washington Post, "Desegregation," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 7, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Free college; low cost education for older adults
Williamson would advocate for legislation that supports free college education and
low-cost education for middle or older aged citizens.
Source: Townhall.com: 2020 Democratic primary "Candidate profiles"
Mar 5, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
I am not for free four-year college for all
Klobuchar is pitching herself as pragmatic Midwesterner who won't over-promise liberal policies to primary voters. The three-term senator carefully calibrated her answers on several progressive platforms--
expressing support without fully committing to them.On free four-year college, Klobuchar said: "No, I am not for four-year college for all."
"If I was a magic genie, and could give that for everyone, and we could afford it,
I would," Klobuchar said, in response to a student's question on free four-year college. "I've got to tell the truth."
Instead, Klobuchar said that she would support easing restrictions on refinancing student loans, as well as expanding Pell Grants program.
Source: Politico.com on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
Julian Castro:
Extended Pre-K education for needy kids
Castro's signature mayoral accomplishment was his "Brainpower Initiative," later changed to "Pre-K 4 SA" and passed by ballot measure in 2012. The initiative raised the sales tax by an eighth of one cent to pay for
extending early childhood education to thousands of mostly impoverished four-year-olds. Castro initiated and relentlessly campaigned for the measure.
Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2020 Democratic primary contenders
Feb 15, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Invest in education, but focus on results
Warren said, "Democrats talk about resources, pointing out that we're no longer investing in our kids the way we once did. Republicans talk about risk and incentives--arguing that students take on debt without fully understanding the consequences,
and that colleges get access to federal dollars pretty much no matter the quality or cost of the education they provide." She noted during a 2015 speech to the American Federation of Teachers. "Here's the truth--both sides are right."
Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2020 Democratic primary contenders
Jan 8, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021