What To Watch On Election Night

The 74 has a nice round up of education issues to watch around the country. They will also be live blogging key education issues and races, including state races, all night and into Wednesday.

And you can cut through the noise. Clinton is ahead based on the overall polling of the race, but as any horse player will tell you a horse with a one in three chance does win sometimes. But forget early exits, polls, or the hype or panic from one side or the other. Just watch how Clinton and Trump perform in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire and you’ll get a pretty good sense of what kind of night it will be. Spoiler alert, if Trump doesn’t win Florida it’s basically over and if Jon Ralston is right about this and Hispanic turnout either in Nevada or more generally, it’s probably cooked for him, too, and a significant moment for the country. On the other hand, it’s 2016 and it’s been unpredictable to an unusual extent. So, along with those states and their exits the Comstock – Bennett race in Virginia, where polls close early, is a good barometer for just how imperiled Trump is among educated white voters who are pivotal in this year’s race given Trump’s strategy. The Gottheimer – Garrett race in New Jersey is another good and early one to watch for a sense of where things are.

Here are a few education votes, from east to west, that are worth watching, are entertaining, or both:

The Massachusetts charter question has big stakes. Most immediately for kids in that state who need better school options. But more generally. If a state with the kind of performance that Massachusetts has turned in can’t raise its cap on charters to allow more for urban students, then charter advocates have to dramatically rethink their political strategy.

The Georgia achievement district vote will be influenced by the national contest but will also say something about the appetite of voters for aggressive education reform right now.

The Indiana state superintendent’s race doesn’t have huge national stakes but is certainly a fun one to watch given the absolutely bonkers education politics there.

The Montana congressional race featuring the state superintendent Denise Juneau as a candidate does have real national implications. She will immediately emerge as a voice in education in Congress if she wins (and be the first American Indian woman in that body). And if she loses the NEA is pushing her hard for a prominent education role in a Clinton Administration.

The California bilingual referendum is interesting. The old bilingual system in California produced atrocious outcomes and was an adult protection racket. Parents want more multilingual options and bilingual advocates have deftly stepped into that slipstream. But can this initiative produce those options without bringing back the worst of the old system?

There are some other issues and some tax and funding issues, The 74 has them for you.

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