During the 6 a.m. hour on today's show, Joe Scarborough and former Gov. Howard Dean, D-Vt., got into an exchange about education reform. The debate stemmed from a Jeb Bush op-ed column published in yesterday's Washington Post discussing the GOP and Latino voters. U.S. Army veteran Wes Moore suggested a way to winning over Latino and African-American voters is to discuss education reform.
Excerpted below is some of the debate between Dean and Scarborough:
Wes Moore: If you genuinely want to have a conversation with the Latino community, with the African American community, talk about education reform and talk about how we’re going to educate our kids.
Joe Scarborough: The thing is though, when it comes to education, Republicans love talking about education reform. It’s the Democrats, it’s the president, it’s the defenders of the unions, it’s the defenders of the status quo that don’t want to talk about education reform because we as a nation are spending more money per child than any nation on the planet. And there’s not a close second when you get into talking about funding K-12. The fact of the matter is the system is broken, and it has been. The Democratic establishment over the past generation that’s been defending that status quo.
Howard Dean: That’s total nonsense. That is just ridiculous, Joe…Charter schools in this country are being started by young kids who probably voted for Barack Obama. Joe that is the most ridiculous statement you’ve said [when I’ve been on the show] in the last two or three years.
Joe Scarborough: You can all you want to say. The Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. has been the defender of teachers unions that for a generation have stood in the way of reform. Just like they’re doing right now in New York City.
Dean: Excuse me, I work for a charter school that’s run by the American Federation of Teachers, Joe. Knock it off. This is ridiculous conversation.
Scarborough: Howard, you can say this all you want. You know you’re not telling the truth.
Joe has since taken to Twitter to further explain his position on education: