HRC at Kirkwood

A few important flags: HRC endorsed constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, free community college, hits hedge fund tax rates Moderator mentions that one of the students introduced Obama when he came to Iowa. HRC: “oh good, that’s a good omen!” Thank you for having me here…and a few of my friends.  Americans have come back from some pretty bad economic times.  The deck is stacked—there’s something wrong when a CEO makes 300x the amount of the average worker  productivity of American workers is not matched in their paycheck  hits hedge fund tax rates  students and families have to go deeply into debt to get the skills they need  Avg Iowan comes out of college with $30,000 in debt, 9th highest in nation.  Repeats video slogan—wants to help people get ahead and stay ahead.  Tells story of parents, “the lessons I learned from my church.”  Praises Tom Harkin for making sure disabled students were not left out, touts her work in education in Arkansas, fighting for healthcare reform as First Lady, fighting for 9/11 victims, “standing up for our country” as SecState.  “We need to get unaccountable money out of politics even if it takes a constitutional amendment.”  Ian Sams retweet of approval: “HRC's main four points of the campaign: build economy, strengthen families/communities, fix political system, protect our country”  In too many places, there has been a lack of appreciation for investing in education at all levels.  I’ve been “a very interested observer,” “involved subtly” in education reform recently (as opposed to more active involvement in the past).  Panelist: “20 years ago, jobs were plentiful, the economy was great.”  I fully support President Obama's plan to make community college free, acknowledges there are many other costs beyond tuition  Some of the for profit schools…take all this money and put young people into debt, even when students don’t get the degree or the credentials. We need to take those forces out.  We also need to lift up the good actors, like Kirkwood.  There is a role for the federal government, but the real work has to be done on a local level.  On NCLB (she voted for it): “there were a lot of goals that were important there but I think we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t work.”  Q: What were your policies for children with disabilities, and to help improve their education? o A: Many students, especially those with disabilities, lose a lot of ground over the summer. Name-checks Tom Harkin again. o We should use existing systems to make sure disabled students have continuous one- on-one support.  Q: I think Common Core is a wonderful step in the right direction, it’s painful to see it attacked, what can we do makes parents, students, businesses, believe in American education? o A: That is a powerful, touching comment that I absolutely embrace. o Argument around common core is very painful—it started off bipartisan, nonpartisan, to make sure there would not be two tiers of education.