Clinton: Trump ‘should not have anything to do with our children’s education’

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday eviscerated Donald Trump’s commitment to education, warning that he would gut education and sets a dangerous example for America’s youth. 

She criticized the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s call to eliminate most of the Department of Education by accusing him of trying to “leave out our most vulnerable students and let them fend for themselves” by ending agency programs like Pell Grants and access to Pre-K, as well as lowering taxes for the wealthy instead of investing in education.   

{mosads}“The bottom line is — just like Trump should not have his finger on the button or his hands on our economy, he should not have anything to do with our children’s education and our public schools,” Clinton said to raucous applause Tuesday at the National Education Association’s (NEA) Representative Assembly in Washington, D.C. 

Clinton took the stage just as FBI Director James Comey laid out his department’s results for the investigation into her use of a private email server while at the State Department. Comey criticized Clinton’s team for “extreme carelessness” in handling her emails but said his agency was not recommending any charges against her.

There was no visible indication from her during the speech that she was aware of Comey’s comments.

She told the assembly that parents and educators are writing her to warn about the “Trump effect,” which she referred to as the rise of bullying and harassment in schools. 

“I wish more people thought about how Donald Trump’s rants are being heard by America’s children. What will they think when he calls women pigs … or talks about banning 1 million Muslims? What do our kids take away from his racist attacks from a federal judge, or when he encourages his supporters to punch protestors?” she said. 

“You would not tolerate that kind of behavior in your classrooms. Let’s not tolerate if from someone trying to become president of the United States.”    

Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, spoke to the gathering of 7,900 NEA delegates at the Washington, D.C., convention center, about a mile from the Capitol Building. The NEA, the largest labor union in America, endorsed Clinton last October, well before the first round of primary votes were cast. 

She promised to be an ally for educators in the White House and described her public education plan as T.L.C. — “teaching, learning, and community.” 

Clinton called for a “national campaign” to help support teachers, as well as for debt forgiveness for those who go into public services like teaching and increased pay for support staff.

She promised to “close the gap” to help all students learn computer science, as well as give every child access to broadband to help foster learning and make homework easier.

Clinton highlighted the structural difficulties that children in need face.

“So much that happens inside your classrooms is determined by what happens outside your classrooms. You see students coming to school hungry or exhausted from a long night in the shelter,” she said. 

“It is time we treated every child as our precious child.”

— Updated at 12:23 p.m.