Charter schools, long divisive among Democrats, could shadow presidential hopefuls
NEWARK, N.J. - When Cory Booker, as mayor of this city, recruited a Republican governor and philanthropists from Wall Street and Silicon Valley for a radical experiment in school choice that alarmed teachers and rattled the community, he framed the move as a civil rights pursuit worth risking his political future over.
That risk now awaits him on the presidential campaign trail.
Since his election to the Senate from New Jersey in 2013, Booker has tamped down his fervor for charter schools. But the zeal with which he pursued school privatization in his hometown threatens to inhibit his path to the White House.
He is not the only Democrat in that politically awkward spot.
Just a few years ago, the appetite for school privatization ran strong in parts of the Democratic Party. It has waned since, but candidates seeking the Democratic nomination include some of the movement's biggest backers.
