Donald Trump took to the podium at a school in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday afternoon to talk about school choice for students and merit pay for teachers, as part of the education plank of his campaign platform.

“Today we are going to discuss one of the most important issues in this campaign — school choice,” he began. He also outlined what he called “the new civil rights agenda of our time — the right to a safe community, a quality education, and a wonderful job.”

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Trump stressed the urgency of education reform. “There are no failed policies more in need of urgent change than our government-run education monopoly … they’ve protected a lot of people who have a lot of high-paying jobs, and they’re not doing the job.”

“I want every single inner city child who is today trapped in a failing school to have the freedom — the civil right — to attend the school of their choice,” said Trump. “Their parents will choose the finest school, and they will attend that school. This includes private schools, traditional public schools, magnet schools and charter schools ,which must be included in any definition of school choice.”

The U.S. spends over $620 billion on K-12 education each year, Trump said, noting we are doing poorly despite the money spent on education. “Obviously,” Trump said, “common core does not work.”

Choice would empower families, said Trump, and create a massive education market that would lead to better outcomes.

Trump also advocated merit pay for teachers and opportunity scholarships for students.

At the top of his remarks, Trump also discussed Hillary Clinton’s “Pay for Play” scandal regarding the Clinton Foundation, her email scandals, her inability to remember important events, and the destroying of some of her devices with a hammer — as well as other issues plaguing the Democratic candidate’s campaign.

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