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Where does Donald Trump stand on education and labor? While it’s difficult to nail down the Republican candidate for president on actual policy, he has been explicit in championing free-market competition for public education and in expressing his antipathy for teacher unions.

Here is a collection of Trump’s statements from press conferences, interviews and books published under his name on topics of interest to UFT members.

On teachers’ unions:

“What stands in the way of the reform we all know is needed? It’s the balance of power: Teachers’ unions with too much power; parents with too little — less and less power, the lower down the economic income ladder you go.” (from Trump’s book “The America We Deserve,” 2000, co-written with Dave Shiflett)

“The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers might think they’re different from other unions — they may even call themselves professional associations to show they’re a cut above. But just because you’ve got chalk dust on your sleeve instead of drywall dust on your dungarees doesn’t change things. Unions are unions. That’s something I know all about. They help workers in the construction trades but not in education. All in all, it’s probably more refreshing to deal with the Teamsters than the AFT or NEA. At least the leaders of the Teamsters don’t blow smoke about professional this and academic that.” (“The America We Deserve”)

His VP is no better

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate, has a track record on education and labor that has earned the condemnation of labor unions.

Since his election as governor in 2012, Pence expanded state funding for charter schools and vouchers and provided more than $90 million for merit-pay awards for teachers.

Pence’s predecessor pushed through a law making Indiana a right-to-work state; Pence has been vigorous in defending the new law in court against challenges from unions.

Pence also signed the repeal of an 80-year-old state law that set a prevailing wage for most state construction projects, so wages on publicly funded construction projects are now set by the marketplace.

The Indiana governor opposes raising the state minimum wage ($7.25). Instead, he signed into law a bill that prohibits local governments from imposing a higher minimum wage on local businesses unless mandated by state or federal law.

On school choice:

“I am proposing a plan to provide school choice to every disadvantaged student in America. … My plan will use $20 billion of existing federal dollars to establish a block grant for the 11 million school-age kids living in poverty. … We will give states the option to allow these funds to follow the student to the public or private school they attend. Distribution of this grant will favor states that have private-school choice and charter laws, encouraging them to participate. … I will use the pulpit of the presidency to campaign for this in all 50 states, and I will call upon the American people to elect officials at the city, state and federal level who support school choice.” (Campaign speech, Sept. 8, 2016, Cleveland, Ohio)

“We’ve got to bring on the competition — open the schoolhouse doors and let parents choose the best school for their children. Education reformers call this school choice, charter schools, vouchers, even opportunity scholarships. I call it competition — the American way.” (“The America We Deserve”)

On merit pay and teacher tenure:

“I will also support merit pay for teachers, so that we reward great teachers — instead of the failed tenure system that rewards bad teachers and punishes good ones.” (Campaign speech, Sept. 8, 2016, Cleveland, Ohio)

On gun-free school zones:

“I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools — you have to — and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, OK? …You know what a gun-free zone is for a sicko? That’s bait.” (Campaign speech, Jan. 7, 2016, Burlington, Vermont)

On the federal Department of Education:

Trump has called for the elimination of the federal Department of Education — Republican presidential candidates going back to Ronald Reagan have made the same campaign pledge.

“We want to bring education local so we’re going to be cutting the Department of Education big league because we’re running our education from Washington, D.C., which is ridiculous, instead of running it out of Miami or running it out of the different places that we have so many people.” (Interview with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Florida, Aug. 11, 2016)

On the Common Core Learning Standards:

Trump said he would eliminate the Common Core Learning Standards, a power not granted to the president, since the standards have been separately adopted by each of the 42 states that use them.

“I believe Common Core is a very bad thing. I believe that we should be — you know, educating our children from Iowa, from New Hampshire, from South Carolina, from California, from New York. I think that it should be local education.” (Fox News Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015)

On right-to-work laws that undermine unions:

“I like it better because it is lower. It is better for the people. You are not paying the big fees to the unions. The unions get big fees. A lot of people don’t realize they have to pay a lot of fees. I am talking about the workers. They have to pay big fees to the union. I like it because it gives great flexibility to the people. It gives great flexibility to the companies.” (South Carolina Radio Network, Feb. 17, 2016)