The Core Knowledge Blog

The traditional educational battle lines among the political parties are being redrawn, notes Diane Ravitch on her Bridging Differences blog, which makes a welcome return following its summer hiatus. Historically, she notes, the Democratic party advocated more funding for disadvantaged students and policies that promoted equity. The Republican party advocated choice, privatization, merit pay, and accountability, and criticized the teachers’ unions as the main obstacles to reform.

In this election cycle, that familiar divide has changed dramatically. The Republicans still advocate choice, privatization, merit pay, and accountability and are still critical of the teachers’ unions. But now there is a significant movement within the Democratic party that advocates the same positions as the Republicans.

Ravitch is concerned that ”the mantle of ‘reformer’ has passed to those who would dismantle public education, piece by piece. 

Update:  USA Today’s Greg Toppo picks up a similiar theme in this morning’s paper, noting, “A funny thing happened to the Democratic Party on the way to an education platform: The party has visibly split with teachers unions, its longtime allies, on key issues.”