K–12 Education Won’t Matter in the 2016 Elections

The 2016 presidential primaries are already well underway, which is exciting for those of us who enjoy them both as political debates and as theatrical performances. But while we’ve heard considerable arguments over how to best intimidate Vladimir Putin, incinerate ISIS, restore “our” Judeo-Christian values, address income inequality, shore up public programs supporting the elderly, the status and location of Jeb Bush’s campaign website, and any number of other critically important issues, K–12 education has been comprehensively ignored. Other than Bush, few candidates have taken up K–12 reforms beyond a few talking points.

While education website The 74 Million hosted an education summit for Republican candidates last summer, just two of the six participating candidates remain in the race. The website’s plans to hold a similar summit for the Democrats fell apart — the candidates refused to participate. In a recent column for The 74 Million, I explain that K–12 education never matters much in presidential elections…and that it will be uniquely unimportant in 2016:

Are you a progressive who believes that climate change is real and human-caused? That’s easy enough: vote for a Democrat! But wait! Do you also believe that school choice can help low-income families break the cycles of socioeconomic and racial privilege that neighborhood schools perpetuate? The Democrats are not entirely necessarily reliable on that one.

It works both ways, of course. Are you a conservative who believes that federal taxes should come down—along with spending on public assistance for the poor? The Republicans have got you covered. But do you also believe that the country should increase its spending on early childhood education programs? While they’re thinking about this a bit at the state level, the Republicans aren’t too safe a bet as far as universal pre-K is concerned.

Ask yourself, then: are you willing to vote for a presidential candidate who shares your view of education but not your views on taxes, the national debt, foreign policy, and/or same-sex marriage? And even if you are…do you think most Americans are willing to ignore their other political convictions as education voters?

Click here to read the whole column.“