More candidates talk with our union

To date, seven presidential candidates have come to share their views with the AFT, which has invited the major Democratic and Republican hopefuls to meet with our executive council. “We’ve got a great group of candidates this year,” AFT president Edward J. McElroy says.

The AFT endorsement process for 2008 includes candidate meetings with McElroy, other meetings with labor leaders, questionnaires to the candidates and input from AFT members. Here’s a summary of remarks by two Democratic candidates who met with the council in July. Five other candidates visited us in May (see the July/August PSRP Reporter).

Sen. Christopher Dodd
Sen. Dodd, who has represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate for 26 years, emphasized his long history of working with the AFT on labor and education. Dodd is running for president because “new leadership to change the direction of this country is crucial.”

Besides his strong opposition to vouchers and merit pay, Dodd’s education platform includes specific plans to reform No Child Left Behind. While he agrees with the AFT’s position that some of the law’s general goals are worth embracing, “the issue is the details,” including better testing. He also supports school improvement approaches that “don’t condemn schools but help them get back on their feet again.”

Like most of the Democratic contenders, Dodd wants to expand health insurance to ensure universal coverage.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Kucinich, former mayor of Cleveland who has served in Congress since 1996, said his campaign is built around transposing the traditional motto of “peace through strength” to “strength through peace.” For Kucinich, a consistent critic of the war in Iraq, that translates into a plan to cut the defense budget by 15 percent and put that money into education, healthcare and other domestic programs.

“Our democracy is in trouble because we’re not paying enough attention to public education,” Kucinich said. “What kind of country have we become when our children’s education is crying out for resources?”

Kucinich said he wants to provide universal prekindergarten and offer more services at the elementary and secondary level for “the whole child,” such as healthcare, nutrition and tutoring.