John Merrow spent many years as PBS’s education reporter. Now retired, he continues to be a well-informed and well-respected observer of education issues.
If Kamala Harris wins the Presidency, public education isn’t likely to be shaken up as much as it needs to be. If Donald Trump is elected and has his way, public education will be turned upside down. But no matter who wins, American higher education is in big trouble….although, as you will see, every crisis is also an opportunity.
If Trump wins in November, the world of education faces rough seas. His “Project 2025” pledges to abolish the federal Department of Education, without specifying what agencies would be responsible for what the Department now does, such as enforcing civil rights laws in education. “Project 2025” pledges to abolish Head Start, the preschool program that now serves about 833,000 low income children, send Title One money directly to states (while phasing it out over a 10-year period), and turn over Pell Grant administration to the Treasury Department. While many in education want the Pell Grant cap of $7,395 per year to be raised (given the cost of a college education), “Project 2025” does not address this.
President Biden has made forgiving student debt a goal, but most of his efforts have been stymied by the courts. “Project 2025” would end the practice completely.
Trump and his team promise to advance “education freedom” by vigorously promoting “school choice.” In practice, this would provide parents with cash vouchers that can be spent at private and religious schools, as well as federal tax credits for money spent on private school tuition. In simplest terms, Trump and his team want as much of the money that now goes to public schools to go to parents instead, and they want it to be tax-deductible, as it now is in Arizona.
“Project 2025” calls for restricting free breakfast and lunch to low income students. Doing that would probably bring back separate lines and separate entrances for those paying and those eating ‘for free.’ That practice led some poor kids to skip meals entirely, to avoid humiliation, which is why many school districts have opted to feed all kids. (There’s some evidence that feeding everyone is actually cheaper, because it eliminates the need for special passes, separate accounting, and so forth. Ask Tim Walz about it.)
A significant change that I experienced as a reporter was the treatment of children with handicapping conditions. Prior to 1975, many of those children were institutionalized or kept at home. “The Education of All Handicapped Children Act” (PL 94-142) moved the revolution that had begun in Massachusetts and Minnesota to the national level. While it’s not perfect today, the federal government contributes more than $14 Billion to pay for services for those youngsters. “Project 2025” would distribute the money to states directly with few if any strings attached and would ask Congress to rewrite the law so that some money could go directly to parents. That doesn’t seem to me to be a step in the right direction.
All of these provisos and directives seem likely to do major damage to public education, as well as to the life chances of low income students.
Charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run schools, seem unlikely to fare well no matter who wins. They aren’t private enough for most Republicans, and they are too private for most Democrats.
What lies in store for education if Harris wins in November? The Biden-Harris Administration promised far more than it delivered, particularly in higher education, and its Secretary of Education has been largely missing in action, as far as I could tell. The party’s platform calls for free pre-school, free public college for families earning under $125,000 per year, making college tuition tax-deductible, smaller classes, and more ‘character education,’ whatever that is.
My own wish list would be for an energetic Secretary of Education who would encourage and lead conversations about the purposes of education, and the roles that schools play. Too often today public schools are merely rubber-stamping the status children arrive with; but schools are supposed to be ladders of opportunity, there to be climbed by anyone and everyone with ambition.
The federal government cannot change how schools operate, but its leadership could and should shine a bright light on what schools could be….and how they could get there.
If I am allowed one wish, it’s that President Harris and Vice President Walz propose National Service, a 2-year commitment for all, in return for two years of tuition/training. It’s long past time to put the ‘me-me-me’ self-absorption of the Ronald Reagan era in our rear view mirror. Our young people need to be reminded that they live in a great country and ought to show our appreciation by serving it in some capacity.
Whoever wins, Harris or Trump, American higher education’s rough years will continue, because a growing number of young people are questioning the value of, and necessity for, a college education. This is a genuine crisis, and American higher education is in the fight of its life: Last year nearly 100 colleges shut down, roughly two per week. While we still have more than 4,000 higher education institutions, many of those may not make it to 2030. The rising cost of college defies common sense, the rise of Artificial Intelligence threatens some professions that now require a college degree, and many young people seem inclined to opt out of the high-speed, high stakes chase for a credential. How many of the 31,000,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 will continue to enroll in college this year and next is an open question.
Of course, colleges aren’t standing pat. For example, Community Colleges are reaching down into high schools to keep their enrollment up; about one-fifth of all current Community College students are also enrolled in high school. Those institutions also enroll lots of older students–the average age of a Community College student is 28.
Four-year colleges and universities are fighting to enroll the 40,000,000 Americans who have some college credits but not enough for a degree. They are also doing their best to attract on-line learners of all ages, and the most ambitious institutions are working hard to enroll (full paying) students from all over the world.
If Trump wins, his immigration policies might shut the door on foreign students, a cash cow for a large number of institutions. If Harris wins, federal aid probably won’t be slashed, but that won’t stop the questioning.
Questioning is long overdue. For too long elitists in the Democratic and Republican parties have looked down their noses at those not going to college, ignoring the wisdom of the great John Gardner: “An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
Every crisis is also an opportunity:Some of those shuttered college campuses might be repurposed for housing for senior citizens, or veterans. Some of those facilities could become Head Start centers, hubs for small businesses, community hospitals, and so forth. I’d like to see a Harris-Walz Administration embrace the possiblities, with energy and imagination.
So please pay attention. Vote intelligently, and urge your friends and neighbors to vote.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Education is absent from the Constitution and therefore “delegated to the states,” beginning in the 60s the role of Washington has accelerated, from the establishment of a Department of Education to ESEA Title 1 funding, increasing funding and increasing authority in rule making. The recent SCOTUS decision striking down the authority of federal agencies will empower states. Trump will accelerate retuning authority to the states, Harris? Will she select an activist Secty of Ed?
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Red states with their zeal for privatization are proving that states do not always know best and neither do parents. Turning Title 1 money over to would result in more reckless, unregulated use of public funds, particularly in red led states. States would likely use Title 1 funds to offset the cost of wasteful vouchers. The result would be pervert the use of the funds that are earmarked for the education of disadvantaged students since most voucher funds go to subsidize the education of the children of the affluent.
“Too often today public schools are merely rubber-stamping the status children arrive with; but schools are supposed to be ladders of opportunity, there to be climbed by anyone and everyone with ambition.”
The past twenty-five years of privatization has allowed unaccountable public funds to follow children and drain public school budgets. The impact the loss of funding has hit urban school districts where many of the most vulnerable students reside more often than in suburban districts. If states seek for public schools to do a better job, they have to invest in them, lower class size and provide support for the most vulnerable students. This is not possible in the reverse Robin Hood scheme of privatization where unscrupulous profiteers have wasted millions of unaccountable public dollars. The only privatized schools that have offered those ladders of opportunity are those that are highly selective. Schools that can select students do not serve all students as public schools generally do. Most schools will get better results when students with the most potential are selected.
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Harris is at least acknowledging the devastating impact of poverty by reintroducing the child tax credits. Trump will do nothing for hungry, disadvantaged children other than ignore them.
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I think the “opportunity to climb the ladder” framing for investment in education is problematic. It reinforces the existence of a ladder of access to the things we should all have a right to, e.g. healthcare, housing, adequate nutrition, etc. Divisiveness between the kinda privileged and not privileged rather than unity, especially multi-racial, is the result.
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Agreed. Education is helpful in many ways, but it is not going to solve poverty. Education ceases to be helpful when it drives people into crippling debt, and they end up in a low wage job despite their degree.
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Trump wins. No more United States. No more US Constitution. No more rule of law. No more separation of powers. Corruption will reign supreme, with Traitor Trump at the top vacuuming money from every source possible.
If Harris wins, we keep the US Constitution, but the rule of law will still be damaged due to the 6 super-MAGA majority fascist US Supreme Court Justices.
If Harris wins and democrats become the clear majority in both Houses of Congress, she may have at least two years to repair some of the damage done by the US Supreme Court.
Will the US become one country again or continue fracturing into two countries: one a fascist, autocratic dysfunctional, dystopian MAGA country vs a constitutional democratic United States?
The MAGA US will continue to erode the rule of law taking away freedoms from the people in those states.
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What really troubles me is that no one with significant political clout is willing to take on the real elephant in the room. That being the exorbitant amount of money and power held by a few exacerbated by Citizens United. Right after the collapse of 2008, Dick Durbin came out of a banking committee meeting in the Senate and ostensibly said the banks own the government. The only thing that has changed since then its that private equity now has a firmer grip on education, both public and private. The overwhelming dark money now infused in our politics insures that the interests of the oligarchy come first. Many of the policies promoted by the Trump administration are a continuation of the tax breaks and subsidies provided for those of means over the majority who need public investment for opportunity. Harris speaks of providing for a strong middle class, but I have seen little in the way of Democratic policy over the past 3 decades that is willing to break from the grifts brought on by charters and vouchers. Harris is by far the obvious choice, and I am buoyed by the possibility of having the first administration since Carter occupied by public school alum. However, as long as the federal government continues to promote administrative heavy institutions, both K-12 and higher ed, over a teacher driven school culture, then education will continue to offer little for those who need it the most.
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The plumber is indeed an important member of society, and we should not look down on that or any other necessary occupation. Still, this does not include the idea that the plumber is as thoughtful concerning the law as the constitutional lawyer. It is simple. If you spend your life putting pipes together, you deserve respect. What you say about pipes and drains is likely worth hearing. If you spend your life with constitutional law, you very likely have thought about it more than a plumber. What you say about constitutional law is probably worth hearing. What you say about pipes and drainage is probably not worthy of consideration.
Education is supposed to support a democratic society. It is supposed to teach all of us enough to understand citizenship. Whomever is elected should help fund the study of how government works, and should push back the curtain of ignorance that has fallen across the country and produced voters who can build anything but would be glad to build it for Trump.
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Well said, As Harris notes, we need to turn a page for a less divisive future, and good public schools can help us do this.
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