UNDATED (LEARFIELD) – Critics are blasting Republican candidate for governor Scott Jensen’s education plan, which would convert very-low-performing public schools — such as Minneapolis — into charter schools, self-governed schools or non-public schools.
“The list to us looks like the greatest hits of failed and discredited policies from the last 20 years,” said Education Minnesota teachers union president Denise Specht.
But Jensen fired back saying Specht “has every right to speak about what failure looks like.”
“Our public K-through-12 system in Minnesota is failing,” said Jensen. “Teachers recognize it. Parents recognize it. Kids recognize it. Superintendents aren’t gonna stand with Ed Minnesota. She should be nervous.”
Jensen says Education Minnesota “has very little to do with education, and has everything to do with raw control, compliance and corruption.”
Specht says Jensen’s plan reflects “discredited policies… of the billionaire-funded school privatization movement, with a few nods to the latest MAGA (Make America Great Again) fads of book bans, whitewashing history lessons, harassing educators and generally making schools less welcoming, inclusive and effective for all our students.”
