Tim Walz helps Democrats make the ‘prairie populist’ case for public schools
(Chalkbeat | Aug. 9, 2024) The photos have emerged as perhaps the most iconic image of Tim Walz.
The Minnesota governor and longtime high school teacher had just signed into law a bill making school breakfast and lunch free to nearly all children in the state. In the pictures from last year, Walz is surrounded by children who happily embrace him, and he beams with joy.
Teachers and teachers unions have embraced Walz as the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee with similar joy. The last major party candidate to previously have led a K-12 classroom was Lyndon B. Johnson.
And they say they’re excited about not just his background but his record.
As governor, Walz focused on providing schools with more money and resources, addressing the affordability of child care and college, and working to reduce child poverty. Walz has connected these policy priorities to his time in the classroom, and Democrats increasingly have embraced them as the solution to what ails public education …
… [President] Johnson’s time teaching impoverished students in South Texas influenced his Great Society initiatives, which significantly expanded the social safety net, said Kal Alston, professor emerita at Syracuse University’s School of Education. Johnson also spoke up for the value of public school as a place where people from different backgrounds come together in common purpose.
“He spoke from the White House about how being a teacher really shaped his view of the opportunities that came to him from attending public school,” Alston said …