Campaign 2012 | National Politics

Ryan for Detroit kids, Biden for unions

Joe Biden has come to Detroit twice this campaign – both times to pay homage to the public school establishment. By contrast, when Paul Ryan came to town Monday night, he swung by the private, non-union Cornerstone Schools – an innovator in school choice for inner city Detroit children.

The mainstream media likes to paint the Romney-Ryan ticket as out-of-touch with regular folks – but the evidence on the ground contradicts the narrative.

When it comes to advancing Detroit’s schoolchildren, Ryan embraces innovation and reform – while Biden walks right by it to embrace party special interests.

Never mind that Cornerstone graduates 95 percent of its kids, while Detroit Public Schools squeeze out just 62 percent. Never mind that innovative charter and private schools give inner city, often minority parents the same school choice that wealthier suburbanites enjoy. Never mind that high school graduation is a gateway out of poverty.

Parents and children have the ear of the GOP ticket. The Democrats? They march to the union drummer.

Henry Payne
Henry Payne is a columnist, editorial writer, and award-winning editorial cartoonist for The Detroit News. A twenty-five year newspaper veteran, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated satirist produces 12 cartoons a week for The News and United Feature Syndicate. Payne is also a contributor to National Review, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and other national publications. His News column appears every Tuesday online.

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