蜜桃影视

Their heated exchange over school busing during a Democratic presidential debate last year was one of the more dramatic moments of the primary season. But now former vice president Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris share the ticket and could make education a more defining issue in their effort to unseat President Donald Trump.

The question is whether integration 鈥� or any other K-12 issue 鈥� can figure into the campaign while grappling with the coronavirus is dominating the education conversation in this country.

Between now and the election, Harris鈥檚 past record as a prosecutor, along with the education proposals she presented as a presidential candidate, will be closely examined as both supporters and opponents look for indications of how the candidates will address contentious issues including campus police, choice and improving school quality.

Being Biden鈥檚 running mate will 鈥渢est her seriousness about the segregation issue鈥� at a time when the pandemic has 鈥渞adically exacerbated achievement gaps,鈥� said Bruce Fuller, a University of California, Berkeley, sociologist whose recent research shows increasing racial isolation for children in preschool and elementary school. 鈥淭aking a potshot at Biden while trying to win over the left wing [was] in part a tactic, but that鈥檚 different than long-term work on an intractable issue.鈥�

During that June 2019 debate, Harris to Biden鈥檚 comments about finding common ground with U.S. 鈥渟enators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country鈥� and personalized the event by talking about her experience as part of a school busing program.

Tyrone Howard, an education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of the Black Male Institute, said he would like the campaign to focus on the quality of schools in Black and Latino neighborhoods, where most students are not selected for magnet schools and other integration programs.

As a former prosecutor and California attorney general, Harris doesn鈥檛 have a background in education. But during a National Education Association presidential candidate forum last summer, she promised to fully fund special education, nominate an education secretary with experience in public schools, and focus on ending gun violence. As a presidential candidate, she proposed to increase by an average of $13,500 a year.

Harris鈥檚 tough position on as San Francisco鈥檚 district attorney 鈥� which led to the arrests of some parents 鈥� also received attention during her run for the nomination.

鈥淪he鈥檚 going to have to backpedal a bit from her prosecutorial stance in the school domain,鈥� Howard said, adding that 鈥渢here鈥檚 got to be a softer, more sympathetic tone toward parents鈥� hit hard by the pandemic.

Yumeka Rushing, chief strategy officer for the NAACP, added that parents and educators want to hear what the candidates will do to help schools recover from the pandemic.

鈥淐OVID-19 is crippling our education systems, and so is poor leadership and decision-making that puts politics before people,鈥� she said. 鈥淪tates need more federal funding to meet the needs of education systems. Education systems need states to direct resources to schools. Schools need to focus on the supports kids need now to realize their potential 鈥� and those supports look different in crisis.鈥�

in what a Biden administration would do on issues such as accountability and school choice, however, aren鈥檛 too impressed, and they view Harris as closely aligned with the teachers unions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to see much of a silver lining for education reformers,鈥� said Mike Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

As a prosecutor, Harris sued for-profit online charter chain K12 Inc. over false advertising and unfair business practices. During the primaries, she wasn鈥檛 as hard on charter schools as some of her opponents, but it鈥檚 unclear whether that topic will resurface.

Steve Zimmerman, former director of the Coalition of Public Independent Charter Schools and now the executive director of Academy of the City Charter School in Queens, New York, said Biden and Harris have nothing to gain by staking out an anti-charter position.

For them, 鈥淲hat comes first right now is winning the election and not finding new ways to divide the electorate,鈥� he said.

鈥楾he Kamala Harris of the present鈥�

As she has called herself California鈥檚 鈥渢op cop,鈥� Harris鈥檚 career as a prosecutor could play into the conversation over police in schools at a time when several major school districts have cut ties with law enforcement agencies and protests over racial discrimination and the murder of George Floyd continue in cities like Chicago and Portland.

Fuller notes that her background could appeal to the 鈥渃enter of the party,鈥� but Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, said he doesn鈥檛 expect Biden-Harris to take a moderate position on those issues.

鈥淭here鈥檚 the Kamala Harris of the past and now the Kamala Harris of the present,鈥� he said, adding that issues related to law enforcement, including school police, are especially polarized. The Republican ticket 鈥渋s very strongly pro-police. The Biden-Harris ticket can be expected to lean more heavily to the other extreme.鈥�

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