Governor
Voters in Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia have gubernatorial elections.
Whoever wins will have the ability to enact or veto laws that could alter school funding formulas, raise teacher pay, restrict classroom discussions on divisive topics, or implement school choice. Governors in Delaware, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Vermont will have the power to appoint a state superintendent of education.
Among the gubernatorial candidates are former teachers, school board members, and a former state superintendent.
While education hasn’t been the primary focus for most candidates, Republicans in key races generally have called for expansions of school choice while Democrats focus more often on teacher pay and school funding. Debates on how schools approach issues like race, gender identity, and sexuality have abated somewhat in recent years, but some candidates continue to call for the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation from classrooms.
Indiana
A former state superintendent and Democrat, Jennifer McCormick, is up against U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., in the race for governor. Both candidates have made public schools a top issue in their campaigns, but their policies couldn’t be more different. The winner of the election will appoint a state superintendent of public instruction.
Mike Braun (R) |
Jennifer McCormick (D) |
| On his campaign website, Braun emphasizes parents’ role in K-12 education and calls for school choice measures that give parents expanded access to private, charter, and homeschooling options. In an interview with the Indiana Capital Chronicle , Braun said he supports education savings accounts, which provide families with public, per-pupil funds to offset the cost of private school tuition or other education expenses outside the public school system. Indiana has a voucher program for which most students are eligible, as well as education savings accounts with more targeted eligibility. Braun, who is a former school board member, opposes discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools according to his website. He says he will “protect parental rights” by giving parents access to and “meaningful input” into school curriculum and materials. “Indiana state laws should reinforce the simple truth that there are only two genders, biological males should not be allowed to compete in girls’ sports, and ‘gender affirming care’ should be banned for minors,” his website says. |
McCormick was a special education and language arts teacher before becoming a school superintendent and later the Indiana superintendent of public instruction from 2017-2021. On her website, she details her “commonsense education plan,” which would establish a “streamlined and transparent accountability platform” to hold all schools to academic and fiscal standards, raise teachers’ base salaries to $60,000, protect teachers’ unions, and prevent politicians banning books from school libraries. McCormick also proposes requiring private schools that take public funds through school choice programs to meet the same academic and fiscal-transparency standards as traditional public schools. Private schools that accept education savings accounts and school choice vouchers from families rarely have to meet the same testing and accountability requirements that traditional public and charter schools do. |
North Carolina
The governor’s race in North Carolina, where statewide elections are typically close, is one of the most contentious this year. Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson faces Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat.
Mark Robinson (R) |
Josh Stein (D) |
| Robinson has made conservative parental rights in K-12 schools a priority in his time as lieutenant governor. In 2021, he convened a task force, called the Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students, or FACTS, Task Force to investigate “indoctrination” of students in K-12 schools. The group called on parents to submit examples of discrimination, harassment, unequal treatment, and “indoctrination according to a political agenda or ideology” in North Carolina schools. The task force published one report in April 2021 that detailed over 500 complaints of “indoctrination.” If elected, Robinson says he will “get our schools refocused on academics,” according to his campaign website. He also hopes to increase teacher pay, expand school choice, and advocate for career and technical education programs. |
As attorney general in 2021, Stein called on U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to reinstate Obama-era guidance that interpreted federal law to prohibit school disciplinary practices that intentionally discriminate against or unintentionally result in a disparate impact for students of color and other minorities. On his campaign website, Stein calls for increased public education funding, expanded access to early childhood education, and teacher-pay raises. He also calls for hiring more counselors, nurses, social workers, and bus drivers. He also supports universal free school meals and increased career and technical education opportunities for students. |
