Even if education isn't a central issue in this November's presidential election, it's likely to come up in some form in brief quotes during debates, in lower-level races where voters consider candidates for governor and state legislature, and locally, as school boards struggle with declining enrollment, the impact of new school choice programs and troubling district budgets.
This carefully curated set of Education Week commentaries has been designed to give you the foundational knowledge you need in a friendly Q&A format, deepening your understanding of some of the core issues in education.
School Selection
This is a rapidly expanding umbrella term for various types of public and private school choice programs, including: Charter SchoolsPublic schools privately operated by nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, districts, or universities. Voucherallowing families to use public funds to attend private schools. Tax Credit ScholarshipsA system under which nonprofit organizations distribute funds from companies and individuals and receive tax deductions for donations. Education Savings AccountIn this system, families receive public funding per student from a state-administered agency.
They come from different political backgrounds: Charter schools enjoyed bipartisan support for about two decades, with the Obama administration being a strong supporter, but that support has waned as Republicans have grown more supportive of private school choice programs and Democrats have grown more averse to charter schools..
Meanwhile, check out our Private School Choice Program tracker .Currently, 12 states have at least one “universal” private school choice program that any family can access, and many states have other, more customized programs with stricter eligibility criteria.
Essa
The Every Student Succeeds Act is the primary federal law for K-12 education. States and school districts that receive Title I funds, which pay for additional services for low-income students, must agree to annually test students in reading and math. They must also take steps to improve their lowest-performing schools and those where students with disabilities, English language learners, and other students struggle. Compared to its predecessor, No Child Left Behind, ESSA has received far less policy attention, and neither Betsy DeVos, who served as Secretary of Education under President Trump, nor current Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, made implementing or revising it a priority. Still, the law is due for revision, and even after ESSA reduced the federal government's role in education compared to No Child Left Behind, it remains a prime example of federal interference in education for some conservatives.
Title IX
In contrast to ESSA, Title IX, the law that prevents discrimination on the basis of sex in schools, has undergone multiple policy shake-ups over the past decade, primarily focusing on transgender students. The most recent was the Biden administration's regulation explicitly banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Federal courts have blocked these rules in 26 states.— and some individual schools in other states.
The Biden administration's revisions replace those made by the Trump administration, and both revisions followed controversial guidance issued in the final years of the Obama administration. Title IX procedures for dealing with sexual harassment in schools, particularly in higher education, have also been changed by successive administrations.
Critical Race Theory
The term generally refers to academic literature that argues that racism can be fueled not only by individual attitudes and prejudices, but also by racially insensitive laws and policies. In late 2020, the term exploded in political debate, with leading figures arguing that schools were using it to indoctrinate students, and 17 states passing laws banning the teaching of these “divisive concepts.” and other ideas. While the specific focus on CRT has waned somewhat, it has been replaced by attacks on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs in schools, especially in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling banning race-based affirmative action programs. (Colleges can consider how race has affected each applicant's life.)
Religion in Public Schools
This is a new issue that has come up ahead of the election, and has been in the news due to several events, such as the Oklahoma superintendent of education mandating that all schools make the Bible available in school. and teaching about it, as well as a proposed Texas English and Language Arts curriculum that includes Christian figures and themes. But religion has been a long-standing source of tension in schools. Generally speaking, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows students (and to some extent teachers) to pray at school, but schools cannot force students to participate in any particular act of faith. That could change, however, as more activists try to push the boundaries of existing interpretations of these laws and potentially ask the U.S. Supreme Court, which has become more tolerant of the role of religion in public life in recent years under its conservative majority, to reconsider.
Teacher Salary
Both Republican- and Democratic-led states have recently taken steps to raise teacher pay.and it has long been a priority for Democratic presidential candidates.Vice President Kamala Harris. Low teacher salaries were one of the factors that sparked a wave of teacher strikes and labor disputes in 2018. And because personnel costs tend to be the largest expense in school district budgets, teacher salaries are one of the major pressure points likely to come up in school board elections and budget writing.