Former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean
put his liberal credentials on display Sunday afternoon in an
address to the California Teacher’s Association.
“Let me start by saying the only chance this party has of
changing presidents is to act like Democrats and start standing up
for what we believe in again,” Dean said in his speech
delivered at the CTA State Council meeting held at the Sheraton
Gateway hotel near LAX.
Dean, who worked as a doctor before entering politics, is
perhaps best known outside of his home state for publicly opposing
the war in Iraq, and being the first governor to sign a law
legalizing same-sex civil unions.
Dean’s speech touched on foreign policy ““ he charged
the administration with “losing the respect of many
nations” ““ but he focused on domestic issues like
education, health care and taxes.
Many educators in the audience broke into applause multiple
times during his address. Not only did Dean evidently share many
political views with CTA members, but he has some common experience
with teachers, having taught eighth grade social studies for eight
months.
Dean received a standing ovation after Wayne Johnson, president
of the CTA, introduced him as “the only candidate to oppose
the No Child Left Behind legislation.”
The Bush-supported legislation, designed as a measure to
increase accountability at public schools, passed Congress with
support of both parties in 2001.
However, Dean and some educators have criticized the legislation
as an unfunded mandate that sets unreasonably high standards, which
they fear will erode the public’s confidence in public
schools.
“That opens the door for the voucher system,” Dean
said.
Dean, who declared “we are not going to win by being
Bush-lite,” did not limit his criticism of the president to
education policy.
Summarizing his ideas, Dean said, “I disagree with
President Bush on virtually every policy I can think of.”
Major policies besides education discussed in Dean’s
speech included taxes ““ Dean said Bush’s tax cuts
should be reversed ““ and health care, as Dean said the United
States should have a national health insurance system.
Dean also emphasized his support for affirmative action, calling
Bush’s description of the University of Michigan’s
admissions policy as quotas “despicable,” and voiced
support for abortion and gay rights.
Dean is not considered a front-runner for the Democratic
nomination by many pundits, and in a second address to supporters,
Dean characterized his efforts as an “insurgency
campaign.”
Though running as an underdog, Dean’s message resonated
with many CTA members.
“He got a lot of support. I thought he was really on the
money on a lot of things,” said Judy Beinart, an eighth-grade
physical education teacher at Jurupa Middle School in the Inland
Empire.
“It’s nice to hear someone who doesn’t pander
to the center,” said Eric Heins, who teaches the third grade
at Wilcove Elementary in the east bay community of Pittsburgh.