It’s hard to notice something that is invisible, but it is indeed obvious that there has been no discussion of education in the Presidential campaign.
It’s not as if education is unimportant: education is a path to a better life and to a better society. It is the road to progress.
The differences between the two candidates are like night and day. Trump supports dismantling public education and giving out vouchers. Harris is committed to funding schools and universities.
Project 2025 displays Trump’s goals: to eliminate the Department of Education, to turn the programs it funds (Title 1, IDEA for students with disabilities) and turn them into unrestricted block grants to states, which allows states to siphon off their funding for other purposes. At the same time that the Trump apparat wants to kill the Ed Department, it wants (contradictorily) to impose mandates on schools to stop the teaching of so-called critical race theory, to censor books, and to impose rightwing ideology on the nation’s schools.
It’s too bad that the future of education never came up in either of the high-profile debates. The American people should know that Kamala Harris wants to strengthen America’s schools, colleges, and universities, and that Donald Trump wants to destroy them.
Randi Weingarten wrote an excellent article in Newsweek about the plans of each candidate.
If you can’t open it, try this link.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Happy Saturday Diane: I’ll read the link later today. However, I have been swirling in “what if” thought . . . what if we get another chance at the apple of curriculum development.
Specifically, many have long cried about the loss of history and civics and other such-named curricula (often supplanted by STEM); and I, myself, place today’s political problems at that almost-closed door to MAGA . . . as having lost a full education in the past (at least) 3 decades.
However, perhaps a planned but different more exciting sounding name for a combination of those concerns, for instance, learning to live and to vote in a democracy; or becoming an adult in a democratic political environment — or something more on-target and that implies the appliable learning that we know is already there in history and civics but which, under those names, can easily inspire a shrug and an ugh.
I also think like many others here that expecting teachers to teach 30 fourth graders in each or 4 classes is a prescription for failure, even though some teachers and students still perform miracles–not because of but despite systematic limitations.
Just some blog-thoughts. CBK
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It is interesting to me that in my school district in Arizona, a MAGA ticket with 3 women is running for school board. Only one has a child in the district. They advertise themselves as “The MAGA Team” in what is perhaps the most MAGA county in Arizona. Their agenda is to fire the superintendent and — well, you know the rest. The trans issue is a big part of their campaign. The teachers are organized and running 3 good candidates, but they are scared.
On another matter, I emailed Gwen Walz at the governor’s mansion and begged her to advise the campaign to make education a front and center issue. I told her Kamala would get the vote of almost every teacher in the country. I still want to get rid of NCLB. When I was part of Save Our Schools, a movement you inspired, I lobbied my AZ Republican Senator and Congressman while we were in D.C. for the march. I was told by their “education” advisors that no one in Congress liked it, but no one knew what to do about it. So here we are after all these years.
The real reason I commented here was to ask who you would recommend to be Secretary of Ed if Kamala prevails? I would love for it to be you!
Thank you for all that you have done and do for public ed.
Kathy Cox
kcox43@gmail.com
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Thanks, Kathy.
My candidate would be Dr. Leslie T. Fenwick, dean emeritus of Howard University. Watch any of her videos. She really gets it.
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Education is absolutely on the agenda in some states, none more so than here in North Carolina. Because the Republicans kicked out their own moderately-competent-but-still-conservative Superintendent of Public Instruction in the primary and instead nominated a complete nut-case in Michelle Morrow. Fortunately, the state Democratic party made defeating her a priority and we’ve actually seen a pretty heavy presence of ads for her opponent Mo Greene (a former superintendent and generally teacher-approved candidate) and against Morrow as an extremist. No real polling of the race, but it’s very unlikely that she can beat Greene in the current political climate in NC.
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Mo Greene is quite a name. I hope he has some occasion in the campaign to say “Do you know who I am? I’m Mo Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!”
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Education is on the ballot and the chopping block, unfortunately.
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Jan Resseger has some thoughts on this topic at her blog:
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/kamala-harris-is-the-right-choice-she-would-be-an-education-president/
and
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2024/10/31/on-public-education-policy-the-choice-for-president-is-clear/
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