As former teacher Tim Walz takes center stage, will education, too?
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Jackie Valley Staff writer
| Las Vegas
Voters say they want lower grocery prices and a more affordable cost of living. Where do schools fall on their wish list? It depends on who you ask.
For nearly three-quarters of Americans, the economy ranks as their No. 1 issue heading into this year鈥檚 presidential election.聽But 79% of Black voters聽say聽improving education聽should be a top priority for policymakers 鈥� higher than any other issue, according to a Pew Research Center聽.
The presidential candidates haven鈥檛 given education top billing in campaign speeches 鈥撀燼t least, not yet 鈥� but it鈥檚 lurking around the edges in nationwide debates about vouchers, book banning, civil rights, and the potential conservative agenda of Project 2025. On top of that, Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former teacher and the headliner at the Democratic National Convention tonight, as her running mate.聽
Why We Wrote This
School choice, civil rights, and a possible Project 2025 agenda are fueling debates in the U.S. about public schooling. How is the undercurrent of education playing out in the 2024 presidential race?
All of that 鈥渞aises the specter鈥� of education in this election cycle, says Kathryn E. Wiley, an assistant professor of education at Howard University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an in-the-wings issue,鈥� she says.
How is education being discussed in the 2024 presidential race?
The post-pandemic years in public education have been defined by academic concerns such as high absenteeism rates and students鈥� lackluster reading and math skills. Cultural issues, however, have in some ways overshadowed those challenges as clashes over student reading material, history lessons, biblical teachings, and LGBTQ+ rights have erupted across the country.
Now, that rhetoric is spilling over into presidential campaigns. Conservatives, including those from former President Donald Trump鈥檚 camp, have slammed a Minnesota law signed by Mr. Walz, arguing that it promotes offering menstrual products in boys鈥� restrooms. The law does not denote gender, instead in restrooms used by fourth through 12th grade students. Still, a #TamponTim hashtag has gained steam on social media.
What does that mean for education policy on the federal stage? Perhaps not much, according to Jonathan Becker, associate professor of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, who teaches a course on politics and education.聽
He doesn鈥檛 expect most of the hot-button education issues to become serious election factors. Take book bans, for instance.
鈥淭hey may use it kind of rhetorically as part of a campaign, but, ultimately, there鈥檚 not really much that can be done at the federal government level around those things,鈥� Dr. Becker says.
Still, they鈥檙e certainly weighing on the minds of voters 鈥撀爀ven if not a driving force like pocketbook issues, immigration, and reproductive rights.聽
鈥淚 think that if Trump gets in, we lose our education freedoms to teach great books and great literature,鈥� says Sharon Cantwell, a middle school teacher in New York who has primarily voted for Republicans. She and her husband 鈥� in Las Vegas to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary 鈥� spontaneously decided to attend a recent Harris-Walz rally in the swing state.
Education is widely considered a state and local issue, especially from a money standpoint. Federal funding for K-12 education hovers around 10%, largely to help schools serve students with disabilities or those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
But the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 Project 2025 calls for the elimination of the federal Department of Education, thrusting school-related issues into the election spotlight. Mr. Trump has tried to distance himself from the conservative blueprint despite many former aides and allies crafting it. (Mr. Trump鈥檚 running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has 聽for a forthcoming book by a leader of Project 2025, called 鈥淒awn鈥檚 Early Light: Taking Back Washington To Save America.鈥�)
And yet, the former president doubled down on abolishing the Education Department when Elon Musk interviewed him on an X livestream last week.聽
Dr. Wiley at Howard hopes the fate of the Education Department garners more attention, particularly to help explain its function to voters.
鈥淚f we lost the Department of Education, that would be terrible,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a significant way that we can enforce and monitor civil rights in education and provide limited funding and support for students.鈥�
Eliminating the Education Department may be a catchy campaign slogan, but doing so would be more complicated. A scholar from the conservative American Enterprise Institute doesn鈥檛 anticipate it becoming a reality, even if Mr. Trump inhabits the Oval Office again.聽
鈥淪omebody will introduce a bill to abolish it, and it will go nowhere because you鈥檙e not going to find 60 votes for it in any projectable constellation of the political dynamic,鈥� says Max Eden, a senior fellow at AEI.
Issues to watch: child care and student loan debt聽
It may be that issues related to education, such as child care and student loan debt, will get bigger play this election cycle. That鈥檚 because candidates will likely try to woo working-class voters, says David Damore, a political science professor and executive director of The Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Evidence of that occurred at the recent Harris-Walz rally in Las Vegas. The campaign selected local teacher Tillie Torres to introduce the candidates inside a nearly packed college arena.聽
In doing so, Ms. Torres plugged the student loan forgiveness she received through the Biden administration, calling it her ticket to 鈥渇inancial freedom鈥� after years racking up interest that eventually surpassed the initial loan amount.
Democrats鈥� changes to the student loan system could amount to a 鈥渟ea change in the way that colleges are financed,鈥� Mr. Eden says, which is why he would like to hear more from the Trump campaign about the issue. President Joe Biden鈥檚 Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, which lowers repayments based on income and offers some outright forgiveness, has been halted by a federal court.
鈥淚s there an alternative proposition that Trump or the Republicans might offer?鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat will happen with FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid] over the next year?鈥�
Teachers energized by former educator Walz
Still, Ms. Torres鈥� message appeared targeted to a considerable voting bloc 鈥� her more than 3 million peers teaching in public schools. The mere presence of former educator Mr. Walz on the ballot has energized this key constituency.
Cory Hulsizer, a teacher in Pennsylvania鈥檚 Camp Hill School District, welcomes Mr. Walz鈥檚 inclusion on the ballot given the 鈥渇ramework鈥� his years as an educator provided. 鈥淚t is understanding truly the things that kids need to be successful and thrive 鈥� and understanding that not on kind of just like a surface level, but seeing that day to day,鈥� says Mr. Hulsizer, who teaches seventh-grade world history and Advanced Placement Government and Politics classes.聽He cited Governor Walz鈥檚 signing a law providing free breakfast and lunch in schools as one example.
Jona Jones, a reading specialist at a Las Vegas elementary school, says Mr. Walz鈥檚 selection as the nation鈥檚 next potential vice president was 鈥渉uge.鈥�
鈥淭here is an understanding there of where we have been in education and where the rest of the world is as far as education is concerned,鈥� says Ms. Jones, who attended the rally with her father, a retired teacher.
Not everyone buys the notion that Mr. Walz鈥檚 inclusion will radically change voters鈥� minds or the trajectory of public education. That includes the Clark County Education Association, a local teachers union for the Las Vegas-area school district.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying [Mr. Walz is] bad on education,鈥� says John Vellardita, executive director of CCEA. 鈥溾�� But we don鈥檛 fall for that schtick that 鈥極h great, we鈥檝e got one of ours up there.鈥� He鈥檚 a career politician.鈥�
The better barometer, he believes, is looking at what the Biden administration has done at the federal level and what Trump鈥檚 team, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, did during his presidency. (The Clark County Education Association plans to make an endorsement in the presidential race but has not done so yet. The two largest national teacher unions 鈥� the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers聽鈥� endorsed Ms. Harris for president in July.)
Rebecca Dirks Garcia, a registered nonpartisan and single mother of three teenagers in suburban Las Vegas, will be paying close attention to what the presidential contenders say about education. The economy ranks high on her concern list, she says, with education inextricably linked and close behind.
鈥淚f kids don鈥檛 get educated, that means we have adults who aren鈥檛 educated,鈥� says Ms. Dirks Garcia, who runs a Facebook group for parents of Clark County School District students. 鈥淎nd then as a society we bear that burden.鈥�
