Election Reax

Short early reax on the election. Full round-up of education election news at RealClearEducation.com.

– Obviously a good night for Republicans. From an education standpoint that’s not as interesting though as what a bad night it was for the teachers unions. They seemed mostly unable to influence targeted races – even in swing states. Their 0-3 record against Scott Walker post the Wisconsin collective bargaining showdown should cause some soul searching.

– That said, in strong blue states they still seem powerful on straight up education issues. The Tuck – Torlakson race is evidence of that. And that has big implications for reform and also portends more Democrat v. Democrat tension on the issue.

– Democratic pension reformers and charter school supporters won in Rhode Island. Coupled with the Massachusetts governor’s race things could get interesting on charters in the northeast. But both those races involved issues beyond education.

-In terms of direct impact on education the governor’s races and continued Republican gains in state legislatures will likely be more consequential than the power shift in Washington.

– You’ll hear some overwrought commentary in the education world in the next few days about what this means in 2016. Looking at the exits and the map Republicans still have a big hill to climb to the White House and depending how things go the next few years probably still face a tough issue environment in that campaign.

HI pre-k went down. So did the Nevada education tax ballot initiative. Wash State class size too close to call this morning.

Update: Indy school board results.

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