Sanders unveils education plan that would ban for-profit charter schools

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday proposed a sprawling education plan that would include banning for-profit charter schools, increasing funding for at-risk schools and making states cover the cost of college entrance exams. 

He unveiled the Thurgood Marshall Plan for A Quality Public Education for All while at a campaign stop in Orangeburg, S.C., speaking in the early primary state on the anniversary weekend of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that ruled school segregation unconstitutional.{mosads}

The Democratic presidential hopeful said during the speech that he aims “to guarantee every person in our country a quality education,” which he described as a “fundamental human right.”

The full plan, posted to Sanders’s campaign website, focuses on 10 major goals, including combating racial discrimination and school segregation, ending charter schools’ “unaccountable profit-motive,” funding public schools equitably, and strengthening the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

He also proposes giving teachers a pay raise, expanding after-school and summer programs, providing free school meals, making schools into community centers, improving school infrastructure, and making schools safe and inclusive.   

“This plan calls for a transformative investment in our children, our teachers and our schools and a fundamental re-thinking of the unjust and inequitable funding of our public education system,” his campaign website states. 

I am proud to introduce my Thurgood Marshall Plan for A Quality Public Education for All. Read our plan to transform our education system here: https://t.co/3XojUVewly https://t.co/24uvOCjd5x

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 18, 2019

During his 2016 presidential bid, Sanders ran on the promise of a free college education. Some of his 2020 competitors, notably Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have also proposed education plans in recent weeks.

Sanders is the first White House hopeful to call for a ban on for-profit charter schools. The Vermont senator is among two dozen people vying for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.