#ReclaimTheFacts

[yougotschooled2016]

— SPECIAL REPORT —

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES ON JOBS, OUTSOURCING, AND TRADE

As a candidate, President Trump made dozens of promises to the American worker, pledging to hold China accountable for its unfair trade practices, to get us out of bad trade deals, to stop companies from shipping American jobs overseas, and to create jobs and opportunity like we’ve never seen before.

One hundred days into his presidency, President Trump has broken each and every one of these promises. In fact, he’s made life worse for the American worker.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: JOB CREATION AND WORKER PROTECTIONS

PROMISE: CANDIDATE TRUMP SAID HIS POLICY IS BUY AMERICAN AND HIRE AMERICAN

President Donald Trump: “We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.” [Inaugural Address, 1/20/17]

BROKEN: PRESIDENT TRUMP ALLOWS BIG OIL TO BUILD PIPELINES WITH FOREIGN STEEL

AP: “The Keystone XL oil pipeline won’t use American steel in its construction, despite what President Donald Trump says.” [AP, 3/4/17]

PROMISE: FIX OUR BROKEN INFRASTRUCTURE

President Donald Trump: “Infrastructure — we're going to start spending on infrastructure big. Not like we have a choice. It's not like, oh gee, let's hold it off.” [CNBC, 2/27/17]

BROKEN: TRUMP BUDGET WOULD FORCE MASSIVE CUTS ON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The Hill: “The Department of Transportation (DOT) faces a $2.4 billion cut under President Trump's proposed federal budget blueprint — a surprising figure given Trump's pledges to improve U.S. infrastructure.” [The Hill, 3/16/17]

PROMISE: EXPAND JOB TRAINING AND EDUCATION “BIG LEAGUE”

Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “Vocational training for our country is so, so, so important. And just in closing -- and they loved it. They loved it. They didn't want to be doing what I was doing. They loved it. They were so good at it and they loved it. So vocational training, we're going to start it up big league.”  [Campaign Remarks in Valley Forge, PA, 11/1/16]

BROKEN: TRUMP BUDGET WOULD “SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE” FUNDING FOR JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS

Washington Post: “The Trump administration proposed $2.5 billion in cuts for the Labor Department in a plan that would significantly reduce funding for job training programs for seniors and disadvantaged youth.” [WaPo, 3/16/17]

PROMISE:  PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS

Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “Under a Trump presidency, the American worker will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them.” [Campaign Remarks at Monessen, Pennsylvania, 6/28/16]

BROKEN:  PRESIDENT TRUMP ROLLED BACK REGULATIONS TO HELP WORKERS REPORT WORKPLACE INJURIES

Huffington Post:  “President Donald Trump signed legislation late Monday loosening the reporting requirements that employers face when workers get hurt or sick due to their jobs. By scuttling a rule issued by former President Barack Obama, Trump and Republicans in Congress have effectively shortened the amount of time that employers in dangerous industries can be required to keep accurate records of worker injuries ― from five years to just six months.” [Huffington Post, 4/4/17]

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: OUTSOURCING

When he was on the campaign trail, President Trump pledged to stop jobs from leaving our country—on “day one.” Yet nearly 100 days into his term, President Trump has failed to do anything legislatively to stop outsourcing.

PROMISE: STOP COMPANIES FROM SHIPPING JOBS OVERSEAS

Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of our world. Look, no country has ever lost jobs like us. They're sucked out of our country, the companies leave, they fire everybody, they go to Mexico and many other countries. It never happened before like this. And we're going to stop it day one. It's so easy to stop. It's so easy. So easy to stop. A Trump administration will stop the jobs from leaving America and we will stop the jobs from leaving Florida. Promise.” [Campaign Remarks in Sarasota, Florida, 11/7/16]

Trump Contract with the American Voter: “I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration: End the Offshoring Act[:] Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.” [Trump Contract with the American Voter, accessed 11/9/16]

BROKEN: NO EFFORTS TO PASS END THE OFFSHORING ACT

Axios: “Tariffs: Trump promised to work with Congress to introduce the ‘End the Offshoring Act’ during his first 100 days to keep companies from moving jobs overseas and ship products back to the U.S. tax-free. That hasn't happened.” [Axios, 4/12/17]

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: TRADE

President Trump talked tough on China and trade when he was a candidate. One hundred days in his term, he has broken promise after promise on trade—even reversing himself on naming China a currency manipulator.

PROMISE: HOLD CHINA ACCOUNTABLE BY LABELING IT A CURRENCY MANIPULATOR

Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “On day one of a Trump administration, the U.S. Treasury Department will designate China a currency manipulator.” [WSJ Op-Ed, 11/9/15]

BROKEN: PRESIDENT TRUMP REFUSES TO LABEL CHINA A CURRENCY MANIPULATOR

Wall Street Journal: Mr. Trump, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, also said his administration won’t label China a currency manipulator in a report due this week. … “They’re not currency manipulators,” Mr. Trump said. [WSJ, 4/12/17]

PROMISE:  RENEGOTIATE NAFTA ON DAY ONE

Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “If I win, day one, we are going to announce our plans to renegotiate NAFTA.” [Campaign Event in Greensboro, NC Remarks, 10/14/16]

BROKEN:  NO “REAL” NEGOTIATIONS ON NAFTA

Bloomberg:  “The U.S. government probably won’t begin ‘real’ negotiations to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement until later this year, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. ‘I would like the results tomorrow, but that is not the way the world works,’ Ross said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. He said it probably will be ‘the latter part of this year before real negotiations get under way.’” [Bloomberg, 3/8/17]

PROMISE:  WITHDRAW FROM THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP

Then-Candidate Donald Trump:  Here are 7 steps I would pursue right away to bring back our jobs. One: I am going to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified.” [Donald Trump’s Jobs Plan Speech, 6/28/16]

BROKEN: THE REALITY IS, THE TPP WAS “DEAD ON ARRIVAL” LONG BEFORE TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY

Washington Post:  “And [President Obama’s] bid to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the centerpiece of a foreign-policy ‘pivot to Asia,’ now appears dead on arrival thanks to grass-roots revolts in both parties.” [Washington Post, 8/16/16]

From the office of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

[yougotschooled2016]

#Questions4Tom

Last week, thousands of Americans rallied to save healthcare in the face of congressional Republicans’ efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and the protections it provides. This could mean loss of coverage for at least 30 million people. People with pre-existing conditions could be dropped from their plans, and young adults would be forced to shop for higher-cost individual coverage if they are kicked off their parents’ plans. And this is just the beginning.

President Donald Trump has nominated Tom Price to carry out his destructive policies as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed, Price could gut the Affordable Care Act, leaving millions without coverage, and turn programs like Medicare and Medicaid into vouchers and block grants. By transforming the guarantee of Medicare from a right into a commodity, he would throw the entire healthcare system into chaos and confusion.

Americans need to know what Price’s plans are for their healthcare. And it’s the Senate’s job to ask hard questions and demand full answers from all nominees—especially when it comes to something as important as our health. We want to make sure our senators and the public understand the real questions Price needs to be asked. Will you help by sharing them on Twitter? Just click the links below to tweet: #Questions4Tom: Will the 20million people who have gained health insurance bc of #ACA continue to have health insurance under your repeal? #Questions4Tom: What would happen to those deemed “high risk” who currently depend on #ACA provisions to access healthcare? #Questions4Tom: Is it true that you believe the #ACA ban on discriminating against people with preexisting conditions is a terrible idea? #Questions4Tom: Would you agree that eliminating Medicaid expansion will have an adverse impact on health outcomes for people of color? #Questions4Tom: How will you ensure safe staffing levels and quality care given the imminent shortage of nurses? #Questions4Tom: Would you raise the Medicare eligibility age to 67, as has been reported? #Questions4Tom: Do you support turning Medicare into a voucher system and Medicaid into a block grant? #Questions4Tom: How will the Admin for Children and Families at HHS coordinate with the Office of Early Learning at the Department of Ed? #Questions4Tom: You voted to allow Head Start agencies to use religion as a factor for employment. Would you advocate for the same at HHS? #Questions4Tom: Does the $243k in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical or med device industry have any bearing on your priorities? AFT members have already helped deliver 500,000 petitions opposing Price’s nomination, and we watched his first Senate committee hearing, where he dodged the questions he was asked. He failed to say whether he would protect access to care for patients with chronic illnesses, or whether he planned to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. He even refused to say whether he violated the law when he bought medical company stocks shortly before championing legislation to help those very companies. We have a moral obligation to fight Price’s nomination. This week, he will take the next step in the confirmation process and be questioned by the Senate Finance Committee. We need to make sure our questions are asked and answered. Tweet your #Questions4Tom today. It is irresponsible to hand over the Department of Health and Human Services to someone who opposes the Affordable Care Act; has proposed deep cuts to the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare and Medicaid; and wants to gut protections for LGBTQ people, women and the most vulnerable Americans. And handing over the department to someone who has proposed big taxes on employer-based coverage—which would allow employers to offer skimpier plans with higher out-of-pocket costs and would make Americans of every generation more vulnerable—will put our health and financial security at risk. If we’re serious about protecting the ACA and access to healthcare for our communities, we must fight to keep Price from being confirmed. Tweet your #Questions4Tom today.

[yougotschooled2016]

Today, the Senate will begin confirmation hearings for Betsy DeVos, President-elect Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Education.

DeVos has no relevant experience in public education, but as a billionaire with an agenda she’s promoted disastrous ideology and pushed destructive policies across her home state of Michigan—working to undermine, defund and privatize public schools, expand for-profit charters without accountability, and push unconstitutional private school vouchers.

Her policies hurt kids—they led to poisoned drinking water and the near bankruptcy of Detroit’s public schools, while the kids in the for-profit charters she promotes fall behind their public school peers.

It is the Senate’s job to ask hard questions and demand full answers from all nominees—especially when it comes to something as important as our public schools and education policy from pre-K through college.

We want to make sure our senators and the public see the real questions that need to be asked about Betsy DeVos. Will you help by sharing them on Twitter? Just click the links below to tweet:

#Questions4Betsy: 90% of kids attend public school, an area you have no experience in. What qualifications do you have for the job?

#Questions4Betsy What steps are you taking to make sure your investments won't pose a conflict of interest for you at the Department of Ed?

#Questions4Betsy The policies that you helped enact have led to atrocious conditions in Detroit. What do you tell those parents and kids?

#Questions4Betsy What do you believe your role and the role of the department of ed is to ensure the free exchange of ideas on campus?

#Questions4Betsy Will you push expansion of unregulated, for-profit charters on the nat'l level as you did in MI, despite dismal results?

#Questions4Betsy Do you plan to pursue a #voucher program at the national level despite the fact that voters have rejected such initiatives?

#Questions4Betsy Can you share examples from your work where you held charter schools to “high standards and strong accountability”?

#Questions4Betsy how would you support schools’ efforts to attract educators and retain them to become a committed part of a school?

#Questions4Betsy As secretary of education, what is the Department’s role in protecting #LGBT students?

#Questions4Betsy: How will you enforce Title IX to ensure women have equal access and to support survivors of campus sexual assault?

#Questions4Betsy Will you direct schools to comply w Plyer v Doe, the SCOTUS decision that obligates schools to serve undocumented children?

#Questions4Betsy Was intent of Detroit EAA to do this much harm to students, or is it just a byproduct of privatization of public schools?

#Questions4Betsy As Secretary of Education, would you cease using your money to influence elections and policies?

#Questions4Betsy Private schools can say they can’t serve certain students, including students w disabilities. What do I tell these parents?

#Questions4Betsy As Secretary of Education, would you carry your intent to destroy Detroit Public Schools to all public schools?

#Questions4Betsy Do you agree that academic freedom be protected? Will you retaliate against those who criticize you or your administration?

#Questions4Betsy Would you let publicly-funded #vouchers paying for religious schools’ discriminate against #LGBT students?

#Questions4Betsy As you have said in the past, do you still believe that charter schools do not have an obligation to serve all students?

#Questions4Betsy How would you manage charter school quality and financial accountability to taxpayers as Secretary of Education?

#Questions4Betsy Can you describe your involvement with these orgs: Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and Coral Ridge Ministries?

All children have the right to an education that helps them reach their full potential. That’s the vision of opportunity and democracy our public schools stand for and the goal Americans expect the secretary of education to strive for.

We need a secretary of education who would strengthen and improve public schools, not one who is out to destroy them. We need our questions answered before she gets anywhere near our children’s futures.

Tweet using #Questions4Betsy and make sure your senators aren’t letting her off the hook without answers.

[yougotschooled2016]

DeVos Education Record

Why DeVos is Wrong

[yougotschooled2016]

With the big bombshell over the weekend, it looks like Donald Trump may not have paid any income taxes for 18 years.

Not only does that mean he’s a terrible business man because he lost a billion dollars in a year, but he probably pays fewer taxes than undocumented immigrants, and some people - very credible people, believe us - are saying it might be even worse.

So it’s clear that voters deserve to know what’s in his taxes. This is an issue that won’t go away, and we shouldn’t let it.

So here we go, these voters are asking what the #TrumpTaxCon is.

[yougotschooled2016]

The Deplorable Trump List

THE 10 WORST THINGS ABOUT THE DONALD, PROVING HE IS UNFIT TO BE PRESIDENT

10. Donald Trump mocked a disabled reporter.

Trump mocked a disabled New York Times reporter in front of a crowd, saying, “Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy,” before jerking his arms around and holding his right hand at an angle. He imitated the reporter, saying, “‘Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!’”

9. Donald Trump is unfit to be commander in chief.

The U.S. president is also the commander in chief, one job we have to make sure Trump never gets, since he has said he would force the military to commit war crimes. And he has already brought up the “nuclear option,” actually asking national security advisers why the United States can’t use nuclear weapons. Who is advising him on national security? Who’s giving him all these ideas? The Donald named himself as his primary consultant on foreign policy.

8. Donald Trump would threaten national security.

So who would be Trump’s allies around the world? He can probably count on his BFFs Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, and he continues to praise the legacies of Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi.

7. Donald Trump doesn’t respect our own military.

What about our own military? They’re not safe from Trump’s vicious attacks either. Just ask Sen. John McCain. And we all remember when he insulted Americans across the country by going after a Gold Star family after their appearance at the Democratic convention. And even after his own party denounced his comments, he continued to go after Mrs. Khan, suggesting she wasn’t being allowed to speak about her son, who was killed serving his country.

6. Donald Trump peddles xenophobia and racism, and doesn’t discriminate with his discrimination.

Trump has made plenty of xenophobic and hateful comments about Muslims, Mexicans, Native Americans, African-Americans and Jews, and he pals around with white supremacists and has a white nationalist as a campaign chief.

5. Donald Trump doesn’t respect women.

Trump has made many offensive comments about women over the years. Some examples: In 1992, Trump told New York Magazine, “You have to treat ’em like shit,” and that’s how he’s treated women in his life—women like Megyn Kelly and working women who have faced sexual harassment at work—saying they should “find another career.”

Women now make up 47 percent of the workforce; in 40 percent of households, women are the only or primary breadwinner. And women are a majority of the electorate. Trump is taking his own advice and treating women like shit. But that’s a lot of voters.

4. Donald Trump was rooting for the Great Recession.

In 2006, Trump said “I sort of hope” real estate markets tank so he could take the opportunity to buy up cheap property and make a buck off of men and women who had just lost everything. And it’s not only American financial markets he hopes crash. After the Brexit vote, Trump actually celebrated, saying: “When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry,” his golf course.

3. On 9/11, Donald Trump noted on TV that his Financial District building was now the tallest.

On one of the darkest days in American history, when we lost thousands of men, women and children to what is still considered the largest terrorist attack in the world, Trump decided to pick up the phone and call into a television station to point out that, now, his building was the tallest in Manhattan. There are no words.

2. Donald Trump tries to walk-back his birther statements.

Kind of. At his press conference, he actually spent more time talking about his new hotel in D.C. than he did on anything else, but he still ended up on the crazy train. He is now saying Hillary Clinton started the birther witch hunt that he has become so famous for. Too bad your tweets don’t lie, Donald.

1. Donald Trump would decimate public education.

No surprise from a man whose only foray into “education,” Trump University, was a scam so brazen that multiple states launched investigations.

Trump wants to take $20 billion of existing federal dollars to fund private school voucher programs. He says his $20 billion program would provide vouchers for 11 million students to attend the schools of their choice, but the reality is it will mean that every dollar now spent on disadvantaged kids, English language learners and students with special needs would be redirected out of public education. If you do the math, his plan would harm 10 students for every 1 student it covers.

Vouchers don’t boost student achievement or improve opportunities for kids from low-income families; they take needed money from public schools while failing to offer greater educational resources.

[yougotschooled2016]

Myths or Facts? Donald Trump on Education

Appearing at a charter school in Cleveland on Sept. 8—a school that has received failing marks from one of the least-robust state education oversight systems—Donald Trump offered his most specific education proposal to date: Taking $20 billion of existing federal dollars to establish a block grant for states to use to fund private school voucher programs.

Vouchers may be a sound bite Republicans love, but it’s a failed educational strategy. A new report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, which studied private school voucher programs in Arizona, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, confirms this. The GAO found that voucher schools directly take money from public schools, do not improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged students, have lower standards for teacher education requirements, are neither transparent nor accountable for the public dollars expended, and complicate efforts to implement education services effectively.

As Trump doubles down on his flawed education ideology, it’s worth checking his facts.

Trump says his $20 billion program would provide vouchers for 11 million students to attend the schools of their choice.

Trump’s plan would harm 10 students for every 1 student it covers. The average cost of a K-12 private school is $13,640 per student, per year. Only a few states offer state- funded vouchers, so Trump’s program would have to carry the full cost in most states. As a result, it would serve as few as 1.4 million students while stripping funding from 10.5 million children or more.

To fund his $20 billion voucher program, Trump would have to cut all Title I funding and another $5 billion in other federal education programs. The Title I cuts alone could strip critical federal funding from up to 56,000 public schools serving more than 21 million children.

Here is the likely impact of this massive Title I cut:

Losing tens of thousands of highly qualified teachers and classroom aides, increasing class sizes and decreasing students’ access to one-on-one attention.

Cutting curriculum improvement programs and professional development for educators.

Slashing resources for extended learning time and tutoring for kids who need extra help.

Firing counselors and ending counseling programs that help at-risk kids stay in school.

Cutting programs that increase parent participation and involvement.

Firing school nurses and ending in-school medical and dental care for students.

Cutting funding for classroom technology, school supplies and other critical materials for high-needs students.

In addition to ending Title I support, Trump would need to take roughly $5 billion more from other priority areas to reach $20 billion. This could mean cuts to federal support for preschool, Pell grants, and crucial resources that help low-income students, students with disabilities and English language learners.

Vouchers boost student achievement by allowing families to choose private schools.

Trump’s proposal could have a devastating impact on student achievement. According to studies of voucher programs in the District of Columbia, Milwaukee and Cleveland, and most recently in Indiana and Louisiana, students offered vouchers do not perform better in reading and math than students in public schools. Voucher programs also fail to offer participating students greater educational resources. Department of Education studies of the D.C. voucher program show participants are less likely to have access to English as a Second Language programs, learning support and special needs programs, tutors, counselors, and school nurses than students not in the program.

Vouchers improve opportunities for kids from low-income families.

Vouchers rarely cover the cost of tuition or other mandatory fees for private schools. In Wisconsin, the state Department of Public Instruction found that 67 percent of voucher applicants were already enrolled in private schools. Under most voucher programs, a private school can take taxpayer money but still deny admission to any student. In contrast, public schools, which serve 90 percent of American students, do not turn children or families away.

“I’m not cutting services, but I’m cutting spending. And I may cut Department of Education.”

In addition to his brazen voucher scheme, Trump’s promise to cut the Department of Education would slash services to those students most in need. This is the impact of his rhetoric on real people:

8 million students every year could lose Pell grants.

490,000 or more teacher positions could be eliminated.

5 million children and students with disabilities could lose $12.7 billion used every year to ensure that they receive a high-quality education.

750,000 or more students from military families, Native American students, students living in U.S. territories, and students living on federal property or Native American lands could lose $1.1 billion per year for their schools.

4,000 or more rural school districts could lose more than $175 million used annually to help improve the quality of teaching and learning in many hard-to-staff schools.

$700 million used by states to support the 5 million English language learners currently in public schools— representing close to 10 percent of all students—could be cut.

Trump’s education proposals would put millions of students at risk, help far fewer students than he promises and devastate public schools. No surprise from a man whose only foray into “education,” Trump University, was a scam so brazen that multiple states launched investigations. While Trump faces ongoing lawsuits in California and New York, campaign contributions by Trump to attorneys general in Florida and Texas—both of whom declined to prosecute— have raised questions about possible pay-to-play.

Paid for by AFT Solidarity, www.aft.org and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

[yougotschooled2016]

Myths or Facts? Donald Trump on Child Care

There is no question that America has a child care crisis. In much of the United States, families spend more on child care for two kids than on housing. American families desperately need access to high-quality, affordable child care starting from birth and continuing through school age.

But Donald Trump’s plan does not come even close to providing a real solution and will be a step backward for many.

As with his plan for private school vouchers, Trump’s proposals for paid maternity leave and child care do not add up. His plan will not provide the necessary funding and will not provide particularly broad benefits. It will do little to help low- and middle-income families and nothing to address the need for high-quality child care.

How will Trump’s plan affect working families?

We can learn just about everything we need to know about Trump’s child care plan by looking at how it would affect two very different families in Ohio. Here’s an example:

Each family has two parents, an infant and an older child who is already in school. Each is paying $8,977 per year for child care for their younger child, the average amount for infant care in Ohio.

One family makes $450,000, putting them in the top 5 percent of income. The other makes the median income for a family of four, $78,000.

Under the Trump plan, the richer family gets a tax break of $3,000. The middle-class family gets a tax break of $750.

Even if a family couldn’t afford the average cost of child care and chose a somewhat less-expensive setting—say, an in-home daycare or another option costing less than the average amount—their tax break would still go down.

Under Trump’s plan, the less you can afford, the lower your support.

Imagine a third Ohio family whose income is low enough that they don’t have a federal tax liability. Under the Trump plan, they could potentially get approximately $1,200 in benefits annually, provided they’re able to save, set money aside and pay for their own child care up front. That’s $1,200 in savings for a poor family, compared with the $3,000 in savings a family making $450,000 would see. Many single-parent families, and those two-parent families with more than two children, are likely to have their taxes actually go up. That’s because of changes in the other parts of Trump’s tax plan. Approximately 1 in 5 families with children will face higher taxes. The vast majority are moderate- and lower-income families. Yet no millionaire’s taxes go up under this plan.

We’ve already seen that Trump’s plan does little to help middle-class and low-income families—and might actually leave them worse off than they already are. Here’s an even more detailed reality check on Trump’s wild claims:

Trump’s child care deduction helps the families who need it most.

This is a regressive plan.

Trump’s proposal would end the federal child and dependent care tax credit. It would also eliminate per-child exemptions and change the rate structure in a way that increases taxes on many lower-income families. Meanwhile, his alternative tax deduction would disproportionately benefit higher-income individuals and families, since they’re the ones who are able to take advantage of itemized tax deductions. This plan will systematically help richer families and raise taxes on many poorer families.

Even worse is that the deduction is capped at the average amount of child care expenditures in your state. If you spend less on child care, because you have less income, you end up receiving less support. Our goal should be to help all families have access to high-quality care.

Trump’s child care deduction will make child care more affordable for all families.

Lower- and middle-income families could actually be worse off.

Trump’s plan would replace the existing child care credit with a deduction that helps lower- and middle-income families less. The existing credit is worth 20 percent of child care costs up to $3,000, for a maximum credit of $600. But under Trump’s plan, a low-income family that pays 15 percent income tax would actually lose money if they deducted less than $4,000 in child care. And remember, a family that can’t afford to spend $4,000 on child care in the first place can never deduct $4,000 in child care expenses. When other changes in his plan are added in, Trump would raise taxes on roughly 8 million mostly moderate- and low- income families.

Trump’s savings plan helps all families save for child care.

A savings plan mostly benefits those who can already afford to save.

Trump’s proposed Dependent Care Savings Account, which would allow “tax-deductible contributions and tax-free appreciation year-to-year,” offers much more to high- income families than to lower-income families. For example, a high-income family putting $2,000 into a savings account would get a tax break of nearly $800. A middle-class family that puts in $2,000 might only get $300 if they are in the 15 percent tax bracket. If they have more than two children or are a single-parent family, there is a good chance they will actually pay more. Lower-income families eligible for a match would get less than the highest-earning families.

Trump’s plan for paid maternity leave would cost taxpayers nothing and would not add to the federal budget.

Saving money through unemployment insurance reform will not provide the necessary funding.

According to a 2013 study by the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the cost of unemployment insurance fraud is $3.3 billion. But according to figures taken from Save the Children’s 2012 “State of the World’s Mothers” report, providing all new mothers with six weeks of paid maternity leave would cost $13 billion. Hillary Clinton’s far more comprehensive plan would offer 12 weeks of leave at two-thirds of a worker’s previous salary, and would be paid for by making sure the richest Americans pay their fair share in taxes.

Trump’s child care plan includes regulatory reform that will improve opportunity for families.

Slashing child care regulations will decrease checks and balances that ensure safe, high-quality programs.

Regulations help ensure children are cared for in a safe space while their parents are at work. Trump says he’ll remove regulations and make child care more like the sharing economy or Uber. In practice, that means removing health and safety regulations for facilities where children spend their days, including standards for fire escapes, proper food storage, safe equipment (such as cribs), age-appropriate activities, and caregiver-to-child ratios. Removing these safeguards would put our children in grave danger.

According to the National Women’s Law Center, studies show that low-quality care can significantly derail a child’s development. Children without access to high-quality child care have weaker reading and cognitive skills and display more aggression toward other children and adults.1

Trump’s proposals do not offer a real solution for working families trying to find and pay for high-quality child care for their infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Instead, Trump offers more tax loopholes and benefits for the wealthiest. will actually pay more. Lower-income families eligible for a match would get less than the highest-earning families.

1. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, “Cognitive, Linguistic, and Social Consequences of Early Experience: Child Care and Social Competence” (January 1999).

Paid for by AFT Solidarity, www.aft.org and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

[yougotschooled2016]

[yougotschooled2016]

You know what American’s rely on? Social Security.  It’s a pretty great idea and popular to boot.

But that doesn’t really matter to Wall Street profiteers who would try to turn a profit off of just about anything. And if you want to take one of the most popular programs in our country that literally keeps seniors out of poverty and prevents them from resorting to eating cat food to survive, we need Senators who will actually think of their constituent’s best interests over themselves and their Wall Street friends.

Good thing Ohio Senator Rob Portman is on the scene! Not. He’s championed privatizing Social Security, including the George W. Bush plan to create private accounts that are tied to the stock market. The thing about that is, that's literally opposite of the definition of “security." How do you have social security with no security? It’s part of the name. Answer: You don’t. And ultimately, working people like us are the ones who lose.

Risking our social safety net in the stock market is irresponsible; and even if the market crashed good ole Rob and his friends still make money and we’d be left without a retirement. But $2.8 million in Wall Street contributions to his campaign means he’s looking out for their profits, not our interests.

PortmanRecord.com and the accompanying ad exposes Sen. Portman as the champion of Social Security privatization that he is.  

[yougotschooled2016]

Donald Trump and the Other Republican Presidential Candidates Don’t Understand Common Core

While the candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination for president have been long on inflammatory rhetoric and short on specifics, front-runner Donald Trump’s education policy has been clear about one thing (and only one thing): No Common Core.  

At nearly every rally (before the punching starts), at previous GOP debates, and in a recent advertisement, Trump has lambasted the Common Core State Standards as a “total disaster” that needs to be “repealed” because education policy should be at the “local level.”  

It’s tempting to wish someone would tell Trump that doesn’t make any sense because that’s not how Common Core works. But does anyone think it would make a bit of difference? Me neither.

Here’s the big problem with Trump’s promise to eliminate Common Core if he’s elected president: He can’t.

Neither the president nor Congress can eliminate Common Core because the federal government didn’t create Common Core. Governors and state boards of education developed the Common Core standards, and state legislatures voluntarily adopted those standards. And Congress has already done just about everything it can by passing the Every Student Succeeds Act last year, which prohibits the Secretary of Education from even encouraging the states to adopt any uniform education standards—Common Core or otherwise.  

Here’s the scariest part: Nearly every single GOP presidential candidate has taken a similar head-in-the-sand approach.  

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has said he will “direct the Department of Education that Common Core ends today” and will “restore power back to the states and to the local governments.” But Common Core was both created and adopted by states and local governments.

And (#TBT!) Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s old website says, “On Day One, Marco will issue an executive order directing federal agencies to stop any and all activity related to implementing or encouraging Common Core.” But it’s difficult to understand why an executive order would be necessary since Congress already prohibited the federal government from encouraging state adoption of any education standards. Rubio must not remember missing that particular vote. Of course, this has become moot since he saw the writing on the wall and dropped out.

Only Ohio Gov. John Kasich has anything intelligible to say about Common Core. Good thing there are plenty of other reasons Kasich should never be president.  

The Republicans love to talk about all the power they’re going to return to state governments. It sure would be nice if they understood what powers the states already had, wouldn’t it?

[yougotschooled2016]

Donald Trump says he would get education advice from his old (new) pal Ben Carson.

Are you still awake? OK. The good news is, Ben Carson’s education platform is only 230 words, so it will be super easy to read and then fix America’s public education system for the 50.1 million kids enrolled in public schools.

I’m going to summarize it for you:

Ben Carson <3 charters and vouchers—basically falling in line with the GOP, but not so much with a majority of Americans.

Ben Carson doesn’t <3 the Department of Education. What he actually says is: “Empower Parents, Teachers, Local School Districts and the States—Not Washington.” We know he’s probably talking about Washington, D.C., not Washington state, because he goes on to say he wants to remove the influence of “the Washington educational  bureaucracy.” But honestly, who really knows? Basically, like Trump, Carson does not understand federal education law .

And in case you forgot, Ben Carson is a doctor. So, his plan to fix our education system comes in the form of a “diagnosis,” a “prognosis,” and a “treatment plan.” #ICant 

Raise your hand if you would send your kid to a Ben Carson-approved school?

I guess it’s better than Donald Trump asking himself for National Security advice.

[yougotschooled2016]

When Donald Trump started his own online education company he humbly called it Trump University—until New York state told him that wasn’t allowed, since it wasn’t a university and wasn’t licensed to instruct students . The for-profit company has enrolled around 5,000 students, taking in approximately $40 million. Lacking the proper accreditation for just about everything, including the real estate programs it touted, it is under investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office for “deceptive conduct.” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, “We started looking at Trump University and discovered that it was a classic bait-and-switch scheme.”

But wait, there’s more. Add two more class-action lawsuits filed in California by the students The Donald went fishing for. Apparently, more than a year and $20 thousand to $40 thousand later, Trump’s students didn’t have the “secrets” they were promised to make them all “billionaires” like Trump. Instead of a fast route to easy money, these Trump University students say they found generic seminars led by salesmen who pressured them to invest more cash in additional courses.

It might have something to do with the fact that these students don’t have rich dads giving them $1 million to start up their businesses. Just a guess.

So what does Trump have to say about this? Well first of all, he would rather keep quiet until after he is done running for president. But his lawyers are now saying, “It is unbelievable that anyone could have thought that Trump University was a university in the traditional sense.” *Cough* it’s called Trump University *cough.*

Long story short, it was a massive scam.

[yougotschooled2016]

Jeb!’s Not-So-New Education Plan

Jeb! Bush unveiled his “blueprint for a 21st Century American Education System” today. What we learned from reading it, is that most of the ideas are from the 20th Century, when Jeb! was the “education governor” of Florida. (We’re pretty sure the picture above, used in Jeb’s announcement, is from when Jeb signed his A+ Plan for schools in 1999). 

He loves choice (charters and vouchers)

While you might not see the word voucher in his plan, Jeb’s plan calls for doubling support for charters and highlights income tax credits and D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarship Program as a means for dramatically expanding choice. These are not new ideas.

Jeb Bush co-founded a charter school in 1996, the Liberty City Charter School, which we can only assume he then forgot about as the school continued to struggle with deepening financial deficits, landlord troubles and poor academic performance. The school was ultimately closed in 2008, and as the New York Times puts it “Jeb Bush’s charter school is a ruin baking in the Miami sun.” As governor, Jeb Bush paved the way for charter expansion in the state and after leaving office his Foundation for Excellence in Education has advocated for charter expansion across the country.

As governor of Florida, Jeb Bush supported three voucher schemes:

1. The Opportunity Scholarship Program (we know, clever title), which was a statewide voucher program declared unconstitutional in 2006.

2. The McKay Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for students with special needs.

3. The Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which gives corporations tax credits for funding vouchers. 

The Opportunity Scholarship Program had no oversight and no clear link to student outcomes. The McKay Scholarship Program still exists but has had it’s own set of problems due to lack of accountability, transparency and oversight . When we say problems, we’re talking about issues ranging from rampant fraud to schools using corporal punishment. Lastly, the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program has no accountability or oversight, and since students do not have to take statewide tests, there’s no clear link to student outcomes.

He likes the idea of transparency and accountability

Jeb’s plan doesn’t really go into detail at this point besides saying that he would:

“require states to ensure every citizen receives a complete picture of student achievement, system progress and finances in their schools. Parents, teachers and taxpayers need information to evaluate their schools because transparency yields better results.”

First of all, transparency is essential. But Jeb Bush and his ideas have been around for way too long, and as you can read above (or here, here and here) the lack of transparency and oversight is a unifying theme we can count on.

Additionally, we’re pretty sure he’s for high-stakes testing, as Bush introduced the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), making him one of the founding fathers (let’s be honest, this is just a title, the Heritage Foundation was really behind it). So when his plan talks about “a complete picture of student achievement” we’re assuming he wants to test, test, test!

So to wrap up, Jeb’s plan for k-12 education is more vouchers and charters, with a not so clear plan for transparency and accountability. Sounds like regular Jeb (no !) to us. 

[yougotschooled2016]

His Money, His Vote: Ted Cruz & Robert Mercer

Mercer is a “Tea Party Conservative” that has given generously to right wing candidates, causes and organizations. He was named one of the “ten most influential billionaires in politics” and has donated at least $11 million to Super PACs supporting Ted Cruz. He made his money managing a hedge fund and, like his buddy Ted Cruz, hates the IRS, which has been investigating his hedge fund for six years.          

His money, his vote

[yougotschooled2016]

His Money, His Vote: Donald Trump & Donald Trump

Donald Trump's top donor is himself. He is self funding his campaign with his ten hundred  billion dollar fortune, which he built with his bare hands during the winter after a small million dollar loan from his father. Does this mean he is looking out for us? Well he says he will be the "the greatest jobs president that God has ever created." Good enough for us.

His money, his vote

[yougotschooled2016]

His Money, His Vote: Mike Huckabee & Ron Cameron

Meet Ron Cameron, one of Gov. Mike Huckabee’s biggest (and only) donors. Cameron gave $3 million to the Pursuing America’s Greatness PAC. He’s in the Koch Brother’s club for millionaires (aka the old white dude clique). To understand for what he looks for in a candidate, he’s also given $5,000 to the Sarah Palin PAC. Sigh.

His money, his vote