Donald Trump campaigns in Cleveland and so do Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, and Mike Pence. It is after Labor Day, meaning the final stretch of the presidential campaign is in full swing.
It also implies that people, who reside in battleground states, will be seeing a lot of the candidates or their surrogates.
Fresh off his appearance on NBC’s Commander-in-Chief forum where he made headline-grabbing comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin and America’s top generals, Mr. Trump jetted to a charter school in Cleveland to unveil a school choice plan.
The program was introduced during a roundtable discussion with officials from the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy. The event was closed to the public. The Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy is seen as a failing school and is located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. It is not known why parents and local officials were not invited to have their inputs in this important debate.
The Republican presidential candidate promised if he is elected president he will create a $20 billion block grant to expand charter schools. The billionaire also spoke about having private-school options for low-income children.
According to Trump, if he redirects existing federal funds, he would find enough money to pay for his $20 billion plan. However, he failed to name the existing federal programs he would cut to pay for this new initiative.
He told reporters that he would also involve the states and let local officials decide whether the dollars would follow children to public, private, charter or magnet schools. Trump explained:
“As your president, I will be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice.”
The concept, which is loved by the GOP, is not new; it was in the spotlight in 2012 when former Republican nominee Mitt Romney made it an important part of his education platform. A 2014 bill introduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is very similar to Trump’s plan.
The American Federation of Teachers, which is supporting Clinton, slammed the plan by saying:
“It is just one more sound bite from a reality TV star turned presidential nominee.”
An analyst from libertarian Cato Institute, Neal McCluskey, had the following to say on the idea:
“Donald Trump is right to emphasize school choice: It is the key to empowering parents to get the education that is best for their unique children, and for educators to teach how they want and try new, innovative approaches. However, this is not something that should come from Washington. The federal government has no constitutional authority to meddle in education, and as it has proven over the last several decades — including by coercing states to adopt the Common Core — once it starts paying for education it starts controlling it, telling everyone what to do and how to do it.”
This is Trump’s second campaign stop in Ohio in four days. He was in the must-win state on Monday, and so was Clinton.
