Author: BelieveAgain
The topic of education has been largely absent from the presidential race, and debate over charter schools—once a marquee issue in the national discourse about education—especially so. But the upcoming elections still stand to impact the publicly funded, privately run schools that have found favor with previous administrations from both parties.From big constitutional questions around the push for religious charter schools to more practical, local concerns such as procuring facilities and hiring teachers, the charter school sector faces a number of challenges that could be affected by the 2024 elections.It may seem like charter schools have largely receded from the…
As far as education policies go in the 2024 presidential election, calls from Republicans to abolish the U.S. Department of Education have generated significant debate during a campaign season when politicians’ attention is largely focused elsewhere.On the campaign trail and in his platform, former President Donald Trump has called for the federal agency’s elimination, arguing recently that it’s an “abuse of your taxpayer dollars” that allows schools to “indoctrinate America’s youth.”The Republican Party’s official platform calls for shuttering the 45-year-old agency.And Project 2025, the conservative policy document spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and written by a number of former Trump…
[Read our story on who could serve as education secretary under Donald Trump.]Vice President Kamala Harris already selected a former teacher—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—as her running mate. Should she win the White House next month, she’ll have the chance to make another high-profile education hire: her secretary of education.Who will that person be? Democratic-aligned education advocates and experts stress that they want someone with deep management experience to helm the U.S. Department of Education. But, given the unusual nature of this year’s presidential race, they aren’t ready to stake a claim on a particular contender. During some election cycles, there’s…
Private school choice is the education issue that has garnered the bulk of national attention, campaign spending, and heated rhetoric this election season. But it’s far from the only education issue voters will ponder as they fill out their ballots.Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump haven’t addressed K-12 schools much in their dueling campaigns for the presidency. But at the state level, major changes for schools could be on the way once voters have their say.Education Week has already highlighted several key themes among education-related ballot issues this year, including private school choice. In Colorado and Kentucky,…
[Read our story on who could serve as education secretary under Kamala Harris.]If former President Donald Trump wins the White House, educators will again ask a question they pondered eight years ago: Who could a president who wants to scrap the U.S. Department of Education pick to lead it? Despite the lack of talk about K-12 policy from either candidate this election cycle, the broad policy strokes of a potential second Trump administration seem fairly apparent.Trump’s secretary will likely support slimming down if not dismantling the Education Department; expanding school choice; slashing K-12 spending; and attacking school districts’ diversity, equity,…
A federal appeals court on Oct. 30 weighed whether to reinstate elements of the Biden administration’s new Title IX regulation that don’t address gender identity—part of a larger battle over the rule that could be affected by the results of the presidential election. Under a series of preliminary rulings by federal appeals courts, the broad new Title IX rule, which among other things protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination based on sex, is blocked in 26 states and at some schools in others. The U.S. Supreme Court in August denied the Biden administration’s request to unblock provisions that are not related…
The 2024 presidential election is less than three weeks away, and one issue has been notably absent from debates, policy platforms, and stump speeches: K-12 education. During the first and only debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, education was not the subject of any questions, and neither candidate mentioned the issue. The vice presidential debate between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance did include questions about how the candidates would address school safety, but neither candidate—including Walz, a former teacher—shared policy plans for pressing day-to-day concerns like declining student achievement or teacher…
No state education chief has done more to show just how in line he is with Donald Trump than Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s elected superintendent of public instruction.In fact, Walters has pursued an agenda—both in policy and rhetoric—molded so closely in the MAGA image that many suspect he’s auditioning for a role in a potential second Trump administration, and that he could be a real contender for secretary of education.“I’m happy to help President Trump in any way that I can,” Walters said in an interview with Education Week about whether he was interested in the job, his federal policies priorities,…
Opponents of an Oklahoma directive for schools to teach the Bible are suing the state’s superintendent of public instruction, calling the mandate unlawful and asking the state’s highest court to halt the purchase of materials intended to be taught this academic year.The lawsuit—brought on behalf of more than 30 community members which include parents, teachers, and religious leaders—was filed with Oklahoma’s state Supreme Court Oct. 17. It argues that the mandate should be ruled invalid, and that political firebrand Ryan Walters, a Republican who serves as the state’s elected superintendent of public instruction, is illegally appropriating funds for the $3…
In his first term, former President Donald Trump sought to significantly expand school choice, slash K-12 spending, and tear down the U.S. Department of Education, all while pouring fuel on the K-12 culture war fires.Get ready for a reprise if Trump returns to the White House.To be sure, much of Trump’s first-term K-12 agenda hit the skids. His administration’s most ambitious school choice proposal—a broad federal tax credit scholarship—never got traction. Congress largely rejected his proposed K-12 cuts. The education department is still around.Still, the former president’s fans and critics alike say policies Trump promoted in his first term continue…