The Christian Coalition has for a long time been linked with the morality side of the Republican Party platform according to Spring (1997). When I lo

In 1999, Rev. Jackson tried to rally two million new voters, a part of his “crusade” to get new voters was to point out some problems in the educational system. Jackson states when talking to prospective southern voters,” Many of the of the region’s schools are crumbling. There is a tremendous need for economic investment in the area to improve the quality of life (Rainbow PUSH Release, 1999).” Another section of the press release states, “We are also going to challenge the anti-labor, anti-gender, anti-civil rights and human rights policies of Trent Lott.” That statement was a stab directed against the conservative policy makers in Washington. The Rainbow Push’s stance on vouchers is one where they feel that they are protecting the rights of the poor, the workingman, and minorities. This Coalition has a more liberal view of the Democratic Party, which is very different from the views of the New Democrats.

The focus of the New Democrats has always been to use education to create economic success for the new century. High quality public education should be every person’s “right” (New Democrat Reform, 2001). Agreeing with the Democratic Party platform New Democrats support investment in public education. I think the major dividing line that the New Democrats have with the rest of the Democratic Party including teacher’s unions, is the flexibility and accountability that they feel that public schools should have. When I look at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition I think that division will be brought out. It is pointed out in the position of New Democrats that they feel that Republican groups are looking to privatize education and abandon the public schools (New Democrat Reform, 2001). School Vouchers reflect this position. By keeping money flowing to public schools, and to public sponsored schools such as charter schools, investments to all students are being made.

I think that school vouchers create a very prominent dividing line between the Democratic and Republican Parties. If you take the school voucher issue out of the fold groups such as The Heritage Foundation and New Democrats would pretty much be on the same page as far as monies involved in educational reform. In theory, the role of religion in school would still divide the right and wrongs of the Christian Coalition, and the New Democrats. It is important to point out that all groups listed and also the Rainbow PUSH Coalition believes in educational reform. When everybody agrees that something is wrong, it is just a matter of finding out what that problem is and finding “common ground” in order to fix that.

Andrew Rotherham a writer for the Progressive Policy Institute, which is a think tank, formed by the New Democrats tries to legitimize the group’s position on vouchers in an article written in December of 2000. In the article, Rotherham points out that the school voucher issue was shot down by voters in Michigan and in California that fall. But Rotherham doesn’t call this a victory, just a distraction from the real issue. School vouchers are just a band-aid, they still overlook issues of larger urban schools. The voucher issue is actually a “sideshow” that distracts from the real issues that public school face, which is improvement of the quality of the education provided (Rotherham, 2000). What Rotherham doesn’t state is the improvement of multicultural issues in these schools. When political groups look at money, they look at what types of education will increase that. As Spring stated earlier, the New Democrats are focused on keeping mainly White voters in the party, so I don’t feel that they are trying to appeal to minorities. So this approach will not change materials that are already taught in school. You may see teacher testing and accountability, pay raises and more public monies in education, but the material in the classroom will remain quite the same.

If school vouchers are approved

Some topics in this essay:
Christian Coalition, Jackson Jr, Heritage Foundation, Michigan California, Democratic Party, PUSH Coalition, Republican Party, Governor Johnson, Party Platform, Dawson Florida, school vouchers, christian coalition, jackson jr, heritage foundation, public schools, democratic party, private schools, charter schools, rainbow push, rainbow push coalition, push coalition, school voucher issue, according spring 1997, jackson jr 2000, republican party platform,