Jill Biden talks with SC teachers, promotes Joe’s 2020 ‘teacher-centric’ agenda
During a campaign stop in Columbia Thursday, community college teacher Jill Biden and South Carolina educators were in agreement: education systems across the country need to change.
Biden, who is married to 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden, stumped for the former vice president during three stops in Columbia, which included two school tours and a listening session with teachers.
Jennifer Clyburn Reed, daughter of U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of Columbia, introduced the former second lady to a crowd of about 30 teachers at Grace Christian Church in Columbia’s historic, majority African American Eau Claire neighborhood.
“Our voices will be heard, have been heard and will continue to be seen in policy and practice,“ Clyburn Reed said, urging teachers to continue fighting for education reform.
Biden, an educator herself, talked to the gathered teachers about her husband’s proposals for education and her personal classroom experiences.
“I just know the importance of education, and I’ve lived it,” said Biden, who teaches at a community college in Virginia.
Among other things, Biden advocated for increasing the number of mental health counselors at schools, funding universal pre-K and increasing teacher pay.
SC for Ed founder Lisa Ellis asked Biden if there was a way to close loop holes that kept some teachers from receiving student loan forgiveness.
“We have to help our teachers out and help pay their loans,” Biden said.
Promising her husband’s future education policies will be “teacher-centric,” Biden collected note cards with suggestions from teachers, promising to bring them home with her.
Biden also attended a tour at The Center for Learning, a private school in on Covenant Road, and at Eau Claire High School on Thursday. After leaving Columbia, she was scheduled for a listening session at The Franklin School in Spartanburg.
This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Jill Biden talks with SC teachers, promotes Joe’s 2020 ‘teacher-centric’ agenda."
