Bernie in Augusta, Courtesy of Channel 12, Augusta

Bernie Sanders continued his southern state swing yesterday in Orangeburg and Denmark, SC. As reported at TPW yesterday, Sanders held a town hall in Orangeburg, SC to discuss issues surrounding education justice. Educators testified about dwindling resources for schools, as well as issues of bureaucracy and lack of reliable broadband that is affordable for low income households. From WIS news:

“Every child has a right to a quality K-12 education, regardless of your race, regardless of your income, and regardless of your zip code. For too long, we have seen devastating education funding cuts used to pay for massive tax breaks for a handful of corporations and billionaires,” Bernie Sanders said. “When we are in the White House, that greed is going to end. We will make a transformative investment in our children, our teachers and our schools to guarantee a quality education as a human right for all children.”

He says with district-by-district disparities in education funding, he wants to add new investments in programs that serve high-poverty communities, support special needs students, and integrate school districts.

“By reducing racial and economic segregation, in our public schools, make sure we attract the best and brightest young people to become teachers reestablishes a positive learning environment for our children in our K-12 schools.” Sanders said.

Sanders says he wants to make sure taxpayers are not funding charter school, and banning those for-profit.

The plan also touched on teacher pay, proposing that the starting salary for educators is no less than $60,000.

Sanya Ahmed Mohiuddin, a teacher who attended his campaign rally said, “This is so incredible it’s so important for us to do. I’m a special education teacher myself, first year teaching and I’ve seen so many problems and issues within the school that needs to be fixed.”

“We need a president with morals and values, a president that will bring us together and not separate us.” Adeline Yon, an Orangeburg resident said.

As Sanders runs for president a second time, Jalal Hakmei, who attended rally said, “I think the first one showed that there was a lot of energy for his ideas and I’m hoping the second run will cement that.”

At the townhall, Bernie laid out am inclusive “Thurgood Marshall” Education Justice Plan (named after Thurgood Marshall who was the lead attorney in Brown vs Board of Education):

• Build on the Strength in Diversity Act to increase, not cut, federal funding for community-driven strategies to desegregate schools.
• Triple Title I funding to ensure at-risk schools get the funding they need and end funding penalties for schools that attempt to desegregate.
• Execute desegregation orders and appoint federal judges who will enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act in school systems.
• Address disciplinary practices in schools that disproportionately affect Black children.
• Establish a dedicated fund to create and expand teacher-training programs at HBCUs, minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and tribal colleges and universities to increase educator diversity.
• Fully fund the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and remove current protocols that allow for arbitrary dismissal of complaints.
• Fund school transportation to help integration, ending the absurd prohibitions in place.
• Increase access to English as a Second Language instruction.
• End the Unaccountable Profit-Motive of Charter Schools
• Rethink the link between property taxes and education funding.
• Establish a national per-pupil spending floor.
• Eliminate barriers to college-readiness exams by ensuring states cover fees for the ACT, SAT and other college preparatory exams for all students.
• Triple Title I funding to ensure at-risk schools get the funding they need and end funding penalties for schools that attempt to desegregate.
• Provide schools with the resources needed to shrink class sizes.
• Provide $5 billion annually for career and technical education to give our students the skills they need to thrive once they graduate.
• Ensure schools in rural communities, indigenous communities, Puerto Rico and other U.S. Territories receive equitable funding.
• Give schools the funding needed to support arts, foreign language and music education to provide all students with important learning opportunities.
• Strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
• Significantly increase teacher pay by working with states to set a starting salary for teachers at no less than $60,000 tied to cost of living, years of service, and other qualifications; and allowing states to go beyond that floor based on geographic cost of living.
• End racial and gender disparities in teacher pay.
• Ensure professional development for all teachers, including continuing education and mentorship programs.
• Protect and expand collective bargaining rights and teacher tenure.
• Provide year-round, free universal school meals; breakfast, lunch and snacks through our school meals programs, and offer incentives for sourcing food from local sources.
• Expand Summer EBT across the country to ensure no student goes hungry during the summer.
• Fully close the gap in school infrastructure funding to renovate, modernize, and green the nation’s schools.
• Make Schools a Safe and Inclusive Place for All

One person on twitter cheered one of the ideas of the plan:

BERNIE JUST CAME OUT FOR UNIVERSAL SCHOOL MEALS. THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!

— Nikhil Goyal (@nikhilgoya_l) May 18, 2019

In my view, this falls along the lines of what Rep Jim Clyburn proposed, the 10|20|30 Formula to Fight Persistent Poverty.

Sanders also went to Denmark, SC, and held a townhall to hear concerns about tainted water. Residents said they had not felt comfortable in drinking the water in 10 years. Josh Fox, an environmental activist and film maker, was on the panel. A video clip about the water issue, which is not just a SC issue, Flint, MI. has been battling contaminated water for nearly 6 years.

The campaign journeyed on to Augusta, GA and Sanders was sharp in his criticism of new abortion laws in GA and AL. That wasn’t all:

“This time the democrats will have an opportunity to interview several candidates and have a robust debate about the needs of the people and I am quite confident that Senator Bernie Sanders stands light years ahead of any other candidate in this race,” said Nina Turner, national co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign.

The sweltering temperatures [94 deg] didn’t stop a crowd of more than 1,000 [1576] people. Senator Sanders’ discussed hot topics from his platform like immigration, education and President Donald Trump.

“We are sick and tired of a president who demonizes undocumented people,” said Sanders.

Sanders said on prison reform,“How about instead of investing in jails and incarceration, we invest in jobs for our young people and education?”

One attendee said that Sanders had done his homework this time:

He’s done his homework this time,” said Kenneth Sullivan, a 25-year-old African-American voter. The Augusta resident said he noticed black faces everywhere behind the scenes, although there still weren’t many in the crowd of nearly 1,600 people who attended Sanders’ speech at the Jessye Norman Amphitheatre on the shore of the Savannah River.

With those events yesterday, volunteer Tom Davis posted at Reddit that Sanders campaign had at least 100,000 attendees at campaign events this year so far. In comparison to 2016, Sanders had only spoken to 1% of the 1.6 million that attended his events.

While in Atlanta, Sanders made an appearance on Meet the Press. He was questioned about health care, abortion, foreign policy, and the horse race.

https://youtu.be/N0MmfO62dig

Of course, Todd couldn’t resist the red-baiting.

Afterward being on MTP, Sanders stopped by the Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta this morning. He’s not the first pol to have made a speech there.

Sanders will be traveling to Birmingham today for a rally at 4 pm. Here’s the link:

NEW: @BernieSanders will march tonight w/ abortion rights activists in Birmingham. He will go to the march directly after his rally there this afternoon.

— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) May 19, 2019

March for Reproductive Freedom, Birmingham, although there are sister marches all over the state.

NOTE: This day was created yesterday, but we will continue to post new events here. Please add your tweets, videos, and news in the comments section1