After obtaining the recommendation of the National Education Association for president, former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, spoke at the NEA’s convention in Washington, D.C. today.
According to NEA’s website, in order to win the organization’s recommendation, the candidates must complete a questionnaire and then sit for an in-person, videotaped interview with the NEA president. The website stated that the questionnaire was sent to “all viable presidential candidates” but only the three Democratic candidates completed the process.
In 2008, NEA spent $25 million in support of Barack Obama and $23 million for his re-election in 2012. Although they did not give their support to Clinton then, they have approved of her running now.
In her speech, Mrs. Clinton spoke of her plans to improve on the education system using “TLC” (teachers, learning and community) to allow students to be “creative and brave enough to adopt and build on their skills.”
Mrs. Clinton claims that “the world is changing but our education system is falling behind.” Her solution was to close “the gap” by making high speed broadband internet available in every home in the United States.
She also wants to “create more community between schools and social services. You should not have to be from a well-to-do family to have access to mental health services or join the soccer team or be in the school play.”
Mrs. Clinton then claimed that the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump had a very different idea of what the education system should be. In a speech he made, Trump stated that “I’m a tremendous believer in education, but education has to be at a local level. We cannot have the bureaucrats in Washington telling you how to manage your child’s education.” It apparently never occurred to Mrs. Clinton that this might be a more Constitutional approach, as well as a more practical one.
Mrs. Clinton also blamed Donald Trump for the increase in bullying in schools across America, calling it the “Trump effect.” But she offered no evidence to support this assertion. According to Mrs. Clinton, Donald Trump is causing students to misbehave and fear being deported to an extent that they write the Democratic candidate begging to be able to stay in America. She shamed Trump for his “bad behavior” and for not caring for these young Americans asking the crowd, “You wouldn’t tolerate bad behavior in your classroom, why would you tolerate it from someone running for president?”
The question was a haunting one, in light of her email scandal. The FBI director admitted that there was a great cause for concern over her actions and that there was concrete evidence she made poor decisions while in office. This bad behavior however, will be overlooked as she made her closing statements, imploring that the NEA holds her accountable as president, to stand with her and to not allow Trump to win.
