Warren's Education Plan Promises Billions for Low-Income Schools and Desegregation

By Dana Goldstein and Thomas Kaplan, The New York Times

21 October 19

The long-awaited proposal breaks from Obama-era Democratic priorities by critiquing charter schools and testing.

enator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts had released dozens of policy plans before tackling K-12 education, making her the last leading Democratic primary contender to do so.

But on Monday, the candidate who speaks frequently about her time as a public-school teacher offered her long-awaited proposal: a characteristically dense white paper that promises to quadruple federal funding for schools that serve low-income students, and to pump tens of billions of new dollars per year into desegregation, special education, bilingual programs and mental health support, while increasing federal oversight of racial and gender discrimination in schools.

The plan would be paid for by Ms. Warren’s signature wealth tax on net worth over $50 million. To encourage states to spend more on low-income students, those that fund poor and rich schools more equally would be awarded new federal dollars. And it proposes a mix of housing and educational strategies to racially integrate schools, such as inclusive zoning to make it easier to build affordable housing in areas with quality schools, and magnet schools to draw students outside their neighborhoods.

READ MORE