蜜桃影视

A sponsored by the reveals that the majority of Newark voters support public charter schools. That鈥檚 not terribly surprising: The state鈥檚 largest district has one of the best charter sectors in the country. In 2018, for the first time, Newark charter students beat the state proficiency rate in both math and reading, closing the achievement gap. An found that, largely due to charter school expansion, black students in Newark are three times as likely to attend a school with test scores above the state average today as they were in 2009.

Yet judging by the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates, no one cares about the 88 percent of city voters who, according to the poll, believe that 鈥淣ewark should have more high-quality school options, including public charter schools.鈥� Instead, this gang of aspiring nominees is engaging in a war of who can be the most 鈥減rogressive鈥� 鈥� what Democratic strategist calls 鈥渟ome kind of purity game to see who can be the most leftist.鈥� As they lurch portside under the delusion that progressive Twitter somehow represents primary voters, they risk alienating a critical portion of their consistency and creating an enthusiasm gap that may damper voter turnout and result in another Trump term.

Let鈥檚 model good behavior: The candidates may not be listening to Newarkers, but let鈥檚 listen to the candidates on the subject of charter schools. (Shout-out to nonconformist , who says that 鈥渢he goal should be to make more schools high-quality and effective 鈥� not denounce an entire category.鈥�)

: 鈥淚n a ,鈥� The New York Times writes, 鈥淪anders 鈥� said that, if elected, he would 鈥榙esegregate schools鈥� in part by forbidding federal spending on new charter schools as well as by banning for-profit charter schools 鈥� which account for a small proportion of existing charters.鈥� (Sanders has also made a moratorium on new charter schools 鈥溾�� of his education platform.)

: 鈥淎ny charter school system that does not allow for total enrollment … siphons off money for our public schools, which are already in enough trouble.鈥� (The writes: 鈥淏iden鈥檚 criticism of charters represents the latest attack on these schools from the Democratic side 鈥� and notably strays from the Obama administration鈥檚 embrace of these schools.鈥�)

: 鈥淚n 2016,鈥� EdWeek reports, 鈥淲arren opposed a Massachusetts ballot initiative that would have raised the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. The amendment, which the state’s teachers unions also campaigned against, ultimately went down to defeat.鈥�

: 鈥淚t is a myth that charter schools are better than public schools. They鈥檙e not.鈥�

(et tu, Cory?): 鈥淏ooker, whose signature policy push as the mayor of Newark was a revamp of the city鈥檚 public-education system, including a charter expansion, criticized charter laws in Iowa during an event in the state last week,鈥� reports . 鈥溾�楾hey鈥檙e about raiding public education and hurting public schools, and that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 unacceptable and for me I will fight against,鈥� he said.鈥�

Now let鈥檚 pretend the candidates actually want to listen to Newark voters and, by extension, urban voters of color. Let鈥檚 start with the NJCF poll, which finds that 63 percent of Newarkers 鈥渟ee public charter schools as an important part of the city鈥檚 public school landscape.鈥� Better yet, let鈥檚 talk to individual parents. At this past summer鈥檚 NJ Parent Summit, , a Newark father of three daughters who attend KIPP charter schools, told me, 鈥淚f you get rid of charter schools, you鈥檙e just taking away my options.鈥� , a mother of 10 and a Newark School Board member, told me that 鈥渁 public school is a public school. I won鈥檛 take my kids away from what鈥檚 working for them. This isn鈥檛 about adults and their politics. It鈥檚 about our children.鈥� , a Newark mother of three, told me that 鈥渃harters 鈥� like [Uncommon鈥檚] North Star 鈥� work to close those gaps, and parents like me are grateful for that.鈥�

Want to get bigger than Newark? A poll released in June by found that more than half of both black and Latino Democratic primary voters view charter schools favorably, and 鈥渁mong those who cast a vote for president in 2016, 50 percent had a favorable opinion of public charter schools while only 28 percent had an unfavorable view.鈥�

Yet our candidates frantically dive into the anti-charter mosh pit, effacing the views of voters of color. Why? New York Times columnist has an answer:

鈥淒emocratic Party voters are split. Its most progressive wing, which is supportive of contentious policies on immigration, health care and other issues, is, in the context of the party鈥檚 electorate, disproportionately white. So is the party鈥檚 middle group of 鈥榮omewhat liberal鈥� voters. Its more moderate wing, which is pressing bread-and-butter concerns like jobs, taxes and a less totalizing vision of health care reform, is majority nonwhite, with almost half of its support coming from African-American and Hispanic voters.鈥�

As the candidates box themselves into the zeitgeist of the disproportionately white and wealthy segment of the party, they ignore the growing moderate wing, which attracts voters of color, many of whom are not wealthy. This is the wing that turned out enthusiastically for President Barack Obama; in fact, in 2012, the was for the first time proportionately higher than that of whites. And let鈥檚 remember that our 44th president was far more moderate than the current pack of wannabes.

It鈥檚 so easy for the white elite 鈥� who exercise school choice all the time by moving into gated communities that come bundled with great schools 鈥� to dismiss the views of urban people of color. It鈥檚 so easy for candidates to reject the results of the Newark poll. And it鈥檚 so convenient to brush moderates aside when Democratic candidates depend on the goodwill of teachers union leaders, who rarely represent the consensus of the party (let alone their own members).

, Newark Teachers Union president: 鈥淎nyone associated with education reform or the corporate-charter school agenda needs to be identified, isolated, and let go.鈥�

, American Federation of Teachers president: 鈥淚 have heard from some people that they view [charter school support] as a complete impediment.鈥�

Please, candidates, as the field narrows and the real race approaches, log off Twitter, ignore the union bluster and listen to real people, like the voters in Newark who just want access to good public schools. You need their votes.

Laura Waters writes about education policy and politics at NJ Left Behind, New York School Talk, Education Post, and other publications. She served for 12 years on her local school board in Lawrence, New Jersey, and was president for nine of those years.

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