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On a school bus tour of
Ohio on September 13 and 14, educators from Ohio and beyond
campaigned for Hillary Clinton with their “Our Children Are
Watching Tour,” emphasizing her commitment to ensuring a
high-quality education for every child and declaring Donald
Trump an unacceptable role model for Ohio children.
“Hilary Clinton cares as
much about our children as teachers do,” said Becky Higgins,
president of the Ohio Education Association, during the
group’s Toledo visit on Wednesday. “Donald Trump is teaching
our children all the wrong lessons.”
Taking a lesson from the
Broadway musical South Pacific, Wiggins quoted the lyrics
from the song about prejudice and hate – “You Have to Be
Carefully Taught” – and observed that Trump “embraces
stereotypes.”
The educators here and
around the state discussed their support for Clinton and her
plans to make the economy work for everyone by making sure
that every child have access to high-quality education. As
president, said the educators, Clinton will launch a
national campaign to modernize and elevate the profession of
teaching, will rebuild the nation’s schools and will
dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.
Trump, on the other hand,
said the educators, has proven to be temperamentally unfit –
calling women “fat pigs,” launching racially-charged attacks
on a Latino federal judge and a Gold Star family, mocking a
reporter with a disability, refusing to disavow the support
of the KKK and insulting American prisoners of war. His only
experience in education was with Trump University, which has
been accused of bilking students out of thousands of dollars
in return for worthless education.
George Sheridan, a retired
California teacher, praised the American college system and
applauded Clinton for her plans to deal with the debt so
many students incur on the higher education level. He noted
that Clinton’s plans will positively affect students in four
ways: college will be debt free; current college debt can be
re-financed; there will be loan forgiveness for those in
public service and loan repayment can be postponed for
budding entrepreneurs.
“She is a real friend of
working people, of children and their families,” said
Sheridan. “We are with her because she is with us.”
Dan Greenberg, a teacher
with Sylvania Public Schools added that: “Hillary has been
tearing down barriers for her entire life, as educators we
know we have a partner and advocate in [her].”
Kevin Dalton, president of
the Toledo Federation of Teachers, took the Republican
candidate to task for his plans to cut funding for public
education. “Our children deserve better,” said Dalton.
“Trump’s plan will slash funding to public schools.”
Trump’s plan, said the
educators will jeopardize funding for more than 2,100 Ohio
public schools that currently serve more than 825,000
students.
The “Ohio’s Children Are
Watching” tour visited six cities – Cleveland, Columbus,
Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown. |
