Sanders and O'Malley Court Teachers Unions.

Both candidates say teachers need flexibility to take a more holistic approach to education.

he nation's two largest teachers unions are in the thick of their 2016 presidential endorsement processes, having met with the three major Democratic candidates who have announced their candidacies.

On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders – an independent from Vermont running for the Democratic nomination – and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley met with Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association. Both the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers – the nation's largest teachers union after the NEA – now have heard from O'Malley, Sanders and front-runner Hillary Clinton at a time when the party each hopes to represent in the White House is divided over how to improve K-12 education in America. . .

O'Malley, too, said there needs to be a more holistic approach to teaching.

"Increasing the frequency of tests doesn't necessarily increase the quality of education," O'Malley said. "We have to be mindful of the whole child – their development, their nutrition, their health. Learning is about more than that feedback loop of tests and quizzes."

O'Malley used his remarks to focus on his time as governor, saying that during his tenure from 2007 to 2015, Maryland "made public education a priority by partnering with teachers, and by not doing less but by doing more." He also defended the federal government's role in K-12 education, which lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said needs to be scaled back to some extent.

"No child is a spare American. In Maryland, we came together to forge the consensus to make the investments at the state level to give our children the quality education they deserve," O'Malley said. "There's so much the federal government can do better in education, but we won't do better if we insist on doing less, not more."

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/19/bernie-sanders-and-martin-omalley-talk-testing-equity-with-teachers-union-chief

FURTHERMORE:

NEA names Maryland’s Martin O’Malley ‘America’s Greatest Education Governor’
From 2010, Award presented at NEA’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS - July 05, 2010 -
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley received the America’s Greatest Education Governor Award from the National Education Association (NEA) today during the NEA’s Representative Assembly in New Orleans. The prestigious award is presented each year to a governor who has made major, statewide efforts to improve public education.

“Governor O’Malley took office in 2007, just months before the nation plunged into a deep recession,” said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. “Despite the economic devastation to his state, he kept his eye on the big picture—he understands that the recipe for economic recovery and success means preparing Maryland’s young people for the challenges of the 21st century.

“Governor O’Malley is a strong advocate for public education,” Van Roekel added. “He has made great strides in increasing school funding, expanding school programs, and taking the needs of the whole child into account in education policy decisions. O’Malley listens to parents, educators and community members when making policy decisions that affect Maryland’s public schools. He continues to be a champion of public education and truly believes, as we do, that education will lead to a brighter and better future for all of us.

“Lots of governors like to think of themselves as education governors, but Governor O’Malley has really earned that accolade.”