The Democrats have formally nominated Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate, and she and Republican Donald Trump will clash on all sorts of issues, including education policy.
The two have very different plans. Harris, who has been endorsed by the major teachers unions, has talked about spending more on public education. Trump, meanwhile, has repeated GOP talking points about punishing schools that espouse critical race theory and “radical gender ideology.”
The two camps also differ on private school funding, LGBTQ+ issues, and student debt.
Much of what each side advocates would require firm control of Congress, which seems unlikely given the tight split in the Senate. But they could tick off some points by proclamation.
Teachers
Trump’s campaign website calls for rewarding states and school districts that eliminate teacher tenure and adopt merit pay. He also wants to cut back on administrators and let parents choose principals.
Harris has called for $2.5 billion in new funding for teacher preparation programs at historically black colleges and universities. The new Democratic Party platform approved at their national convention on Monday also calls for a raise for teachers.
School funding
Democrats are calling for universal pre-K. Georgia has been a leader in that area, but has not provided places for all children. The party also wants Congress to approve more money for special education. Federal law requires school districts to provide services, but states and school districts pay for most.
Trump would cut funding to any school that espouses critical race theory, “radical gender ideology” and “inappropriate” racial, sexual, or political content. Georgia already has laws addressing these issues, the most prominent being one that prohibits advocating what state lawmakers termed “divisive concepts.” They have been tested locally, leading to the firing of a Cobb County teacher who has taken the district to court.
The Georgia budget for this school year supplements local taxpayers with just over $13.2 billion in state aid for education. The federal government is contributing nearly $2.3 billion more.
Project 2025
A 900-page document called Project 2025 offers what some say is a detailed road map for Trump. Among the recommendations are two that critics say would allow federal funds to flow to private schools. The document, drafted by conservative think tanks and members of Trump’s first administration, would cut the strings associated with federal dollars for special education and students in poverty. Schools currently have to follow a thicket of rules when using the money they receive through a law known as Title I and through the Individuals with Disabilities Act.
Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, though he recently embraced a core recommendation to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, which administers those grants. Harris blasted the idea of eliminating the department in his conference speech Thursday night.
Democrats have blasted Project 2025 during their convention, saying it entails everything Trump would do in the next four years.
Private school vouchers
Trump says on his website that he supports “universal school choice” for parents to send their children to the public, private or religious school that best suits their needs, citing Ohio and West Virginia as examples of states that “lead the American school choice revolution.” These states have provided taxpayer-funded vouchers, or scholarships, that can follow a child regardless of income to any public or private school. Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers passed a new voucher program that Governor Brian Kemp then signed into law law.It would give $6,500 a year to parents who pull their child out of a low-performing public school and then educate them at home or in a private school.
The Democratic Party’s platform opposes such private education subsidies, commonly referred to as vouchers.
LGBTQ+
Harris, a former California attorney general, has called for stricter enforcement of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. Trump’s platform says he wants to “keep men out of women’s sports,” a reference to the political divide over transgender athletes.
Georgia’s divisive terms law included a provision authorizing the Georgia High School Association to ban transgender athletes. And the association did that in 2022.
Other questions
Trump’s website says he will veto “the egregious effort to weaponize civilian education.” However, there is no reference to any specific legislation. Democrats are calling for an expansion of Pell grants and for college debt relief, which Republicans have strongly opposed in court.
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