Ohio education experts say some of former President Donald Trump’s education policies are consistent with what’s already happening in Ohio with universal school vouchers, while Vice President Kamala Harris has spoken out against vouchers, book bans and curriculum censorship.
“I think we have a variety of candidates who really have very different views on schools and education, so I’m very keen to find out which of those values or views most closely aligns with you and your own experiences in public schools. voters to think about.” said Amy Farley, associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Education.
Harris Politics
Although Harris hasn’t said much about education during the campaign, her record provides insight into her stance on education policy.
“(Harris and Tim Walz) h“We have a long history of supporting strong public schools, investing in our students and supporting teachers,” said Scott DiMauropresident of the Ohio Educational Association. OEA is affiliated with tNational Education Association, which endorsed Harris.
The Biden-Harris administration has expanded federal protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX. Trump has said he will reverse these changes if re-elected.
Ohio has a slew of anti-LGBTQ laws, from restroom bans to a parental bill of rights. A recent law has recently entered into force, which, among other things, Bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.
““I think the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education would still have some authority to enforce civil rights laws in our schools across the country if Harris were elected, and I think that’s really at risk if Donald Trump is elected,” Farley said. “So I think the Harris administration would probably not allow states to violate student civil rights protections and would continue to do so. And I think the Trump administration fully intends to move these kinds of processes to the states.”
Harris accepted for-profit colleges when she was California’s attorney general. She sued Corinthian Colleges and now died for-profit higher education network and in 2016 won a $1.1 billion federal court judgment in the Corinthian case.
The Biden-Harris administration has invested over $17 billion in US federal investment Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Ohio has two HBCUs – Central State University and Wilberforce University.
Harris supports student loan forgiveness, and the Biden-Harris administration almost canceled it $170 billion in student debt owed to 4.76 million borrowers. President Joe Biden tried to forgive borrowers up to $10,000 in federal student loans and Pell Grant recipients would have $20,000 forgiven, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.
This could potentially harm Harris as Biden’s vice president, said Matina Bliss, spokeswoman for Honesty for Ohio Education.
“I think as long as she continues to make progress and show that she’s committed to helping borrowers repay such huge debts, it will be very helpful,” she said.
Harris by selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, a former public school teacher, is sending a signal that public education is a priority for her, education policy experts say.
“IN“It would mean that having a public school teacher in the executive branch, who balances that with military experience and a governorship, could really play a key role in changing the way education is prioritized and valued in the executive branch,” Farley said.
Harris wants to keep the Department of Education, hire more teachers and raise teacher pay. The the average starting teacher salary in ohio is $40,055 According to the NEA, the average teacher salary in Ohio is $66,390.
Harris opposes private school vouchers, which are common in Ohio. She he spoke out against censorship of curricula and laws banning books. AND A Republican lawmaker introduced the bill in Ohio earlier this year, which would have charged teachers and district librarians with fifth-degree felonies for creating, reproducing, publishing, promoting or advertising “obscene material.”
Trump’s politics
Despite his attempts to distance himself from Project 2025, what Trump has said about education aligns with Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a presidential transition project written by the Heritage Foundation that describes the first 180 days in office of the next right-wing administration. Former Trump administration officials helped develop Project 2025, which promotes the values of Christian nationalism.
“What I find interesting is that Trump has claimed to distance himself from Project 2025 as a concept or document, but has done nothing to distance himself from specific policies, especially those related to education.” DiMauro he said.
Integrity for education in Ohio created a document describing how to implement Project 2025 would have an impact on education and how does this relate to what’s happening in Ohioespecially when it comes to creating universal school vouchers.
Project 2025 would get rid of the Department of Education, expand school vouchers and eliminate the Office of Head Start. Trump said he wanted to do it all.
DiMauro, who has concerns about all this, said eliminating the Department of Education would be perilous.
“This is a reckless action that will ultimately undermine the critical support our students truly rely on,” he said.
The Ministry of Education allocates Title One funds that are federal funds given to school districts with high percentages of low-income students. Bliss said Ohio received $596 million in Title One funds in fiscal year 2023.
“Abolishing the Department of Education would completely strip Ohio of these funds,” he added. Bliss said. “Trump’s education funding policies will have daily impacts on everyday Ohioans, low-income families, especially Black and Brown families in urban neighborhoods. We will definitely see impacts here and so far none of them are positive.”
Getting rid of the Office of Head Start would mean closing the Head Start child care programs that it served 833,000 low-income children in fiscal year 2022.
“It’s really important that we have kids coming to school ready to learn, and programs like Head Start are essential, so that’s a concern.” DiMauro he said.
Trump supported book bans and censorship in the classroom. He talked about extending parental rights in education and abolishing regulations regarding teachers’ employment. Ohio does legal act regarding the charter of parental rights which passed the House and is in a Senate committee.
When it comes to higher education, Trump opposes student loan forgiveness. Bliss says Ohio has 1.8 million borrowers and an outstanding debt balance of about $63 billion.
Trump plans to create a free online college called American Academy.
“It would take money from university donations, specifically donations from private universities, and then give that money to the American Academy,” Bliss said. “This would be detrimental to every private university in the state of Ohio because they could potentially lose funding and money from their donations.”
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