In The 74 today I take a look at education politics. Couple of points:
– Trump/Republicans did better among Black and Hispanic voters than one might have expected, education not the only piece of that, but a piece. That matters for Democrats.
– The intraparty divide among Democrats on education is often misunderstood. It’s not left v. center, it’s reform versus no and you can find people in both camps on the left and in the center. And the debate is not resources versus accountability, as we’ve discussed here over the years, it’s resources + accountability/choice versus just resources.
– A restless electorate means opportunities for both parties, and risk.
…Long term…resolving the tension at the heart of the Democratic coalition matters a lot more — both for the political fortunes of Democrats and, more importantly, for Americans scrambling to give their kids a fighting chance in an unforgiving economy — than who, specifically, the next secretary of education is. The secretary pick is about who has leverage now; the real question facing Democrats is about the party’s future.
