Trump Twists Biden’s Position on School Choice/Charter Schools
In a series of virtual tele-rallies, President Donald Trump repeatedly distorted Joe Biden’s position on education, claiming the former vice president wants to “end school choice” and “abolish charter schools.”
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, opposes federal funding going to “for-profit charter schools,” but schools managed by for-profit companies make up only a fraction of charter schools. And while Biden opposes vouchers for private school tuition — the ultimate in school choice for some — he does not oppose students choosing between public schools, magnet schools and high-performing charter schools.
Trump’s attack on Biden was gleaned from policy recommendations drafted by Biden and his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The 110-page document, called the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations, was released July 8 and is not the official Democratic Party platform. Nevertheless, Trump has seized on the document to make a number of misleading claims about Biden’s positions, some of which we have written about previously.
In three recent tele-rallies, Trump repeatedly cited the document and
