By Andrew Lockett
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28 Oct, 2020
With the presidential election right around the corner, it seems like the news cycle is increasingly dominated by the happenings of Joe Biden and Donald Trump (and occasionally Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, when news coverage gets dry). Both candidates are in the throes of last-minute campaigning, criss-crossing the states like a rushed game of chess, and the media is covering their every move. The evening news boasts stories along the lines of “Joe Biden was in Ohio today, showing his support of the workers in the automotive industry,” and, “Today, Trump held a rally in Oklahoma, where he pushed his support of middle-american farmers.” Round and round these news stories go, night after night, building up pressure until election day finally arrives in November. During a time like this, however, it seems like the news is failing to cover the topics that people really need to hear before casting their votes in the upcoming weeks. For me, a high school student currently in the public education system looking for colleges to attend, this means education policy. I want to know how the future president of the United States intends to change my access to education, and what that will look like for me in practice. While Joe Biden and Donald Trump both have strong opinions on educational policy in America, they differ significantly in their aims and beliefs. The best way to compare their policies, since they are so different, is to look at where it is they plan to institute change. The primary areas of change are public primary/secondary education, and postsecondary education. Another topic that seems separate but must be taken into consideration, is how they will respond to the difficulties schools face in wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, since it will affect how and when their policies will take shape. This election will, no matter its outcome, have a major effect on education within this country, and in this article I intend to explore what these effects will be in the event of either candidate winning the race. Public K-12 Education First taking a look at public primary and secondary education, President Trump has a track record of pushing to increase families’ access to school choice. He is a major supporter of school choice, because he believes that “the parents of every student in America should have a right to a meaningful choice about where their child goes to school.” (Trump, “National School Choice Week 2017 Proclamation”). In 2018 he budgeted $1.4 billion specifically for increasing access to school choice for students across America, creating programs which had not existed during the previous administration. His vision is that parents and students will have a free choice of which schools they attend, be they charter, private, or public, based on their educational needs and desires. The other primary stance that Trump holds on public education is that vocational programs should be widely available to students at the high school level. He states that this training is the key to opening millions of students up to stable, well-paying jobs in the future. Although in practice he has not provided them direct funding, he advocates for the building of these programs across America. Joe Biden views public k-12 education needs in a different light, and wants to put federal funding not toward school choice, but towards improving the school systems which already exist locally across America. He wants to “Ensure that no child’s future is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability” (Biden, “The Biden Plan for Educators”). He intends to radically increase Title I funding so that poorer districts receive the resources they need to better facilitate the education of their students. Biden also intends to double the amount of school nurses, counselors, and psychologists in schools to address students’ mental health needs. He believes the availability of mental health care in schools to be a major area in need of improvement, especially in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. Biden also supports various other programs that would be instituted into the public education system under his plan. One of these is access to public preschool for all, which actually saw $500 million in funding during the Obama era. Another program that he supports is partnering with MSIs (Minority Serving Institutions) to help increase the diversity of public school teachers, so that they more accurately represent the makeup of America’s population. In addition to this, much like Trump, Biden wants to give funding towards vocational training at the high school level, increasing its availability to students throughout America. College and Trade School Education When it comes to postsecondary education, Donald Trump has focused his resources on trade and vocational programs. He believes that two-year programs for industry certification are a great way for people to find good-paying jobs, and he wants to encourage their development and support throughout the country. He signed an executive order in 2019 which required colleges to be more transparent about the cost of their education, as well as the salary people could expect to make with their degree after college. Through funding the federal TRIO programs, he has helped to create programs that assist in getting students into and through these industry certification programs. He has also worked to streamline the extremely long FAFSA form so that it is a little bit easier for students to apply for, and has extended the distribution of PELL grants to year-round for people who exhibit extreme financial need. Through budgeting and executive orders during his presidency, Donald Trump has made it a point to support HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and MSIs. He budgeted $492 million for the specific funding of HBCUs, as well as other predominantly minority-serving colleges, and is outspoken about providing them support. However, as a point of comparison, during Obama’s first term in office, the Obama administration provided $2 billion for the same express purpose of helping MSIs, which is more than the Trump administration has, in practice, committed to the cause. Nonetheless, Trump has provided lots of support to these organizations, and made them more of a priority within his white house policy. Biden and his team have taken a stance on college that likewise majorly supports postsecondary vocational training, as Biden believes that having only a high school diploma limits the jobs that one is eligible for. Citing a study done by Georgetown University, Biden states that “roughly 6 in 10 jobs [in America] require some education beyond a high school diploma” (Biden, “The Biden Plan for Education”). Like Trump, Joe Biden wants to invest money in community colleges and industry certification programs, but he wants to expand it to an extent where two-year degrees, or the first two years of a four-year degree, are completely debt-free for students. The specific makeup of his plan is that the federal government will cover 75% of the education cost, with the other 25% covered by the state government, leaving no net to the student. His belief is that this will successfully re-stimulate and grow the middle class in the country. Biden also intends to support a version of legislation written by Bernie Sanders, which would make public colleges and universities free to families who make less than $125,000 a year. This proposition is a radical shift towards free college education which is likewise meant to grow the middle class, as well as help to address racial and economic inequality in the nation. The outcome of this legislation, if it were to come to pass, would be access to free college for 8 in 10 families in America. Covid-19 Response Looking at the response of Donald Trump to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have hard evidence as to how he has chosen to divert government resources regarding education at this time. In March, he passed the CARES act, providing $30 Billion in emergency education funds, which went to setting up virtual learning, increasing connectivity, and paying for sanitation in schools. Currently there is a proposed extension to this act called the HEROES Act, which would provide a further $58 Billion to local school districts in need of funding, but he has failed to endorse or pass this act. He has also made it his intent to get students back into school in-person as soon as possible, suggesting incentives toward schools that entirely reopen in-person. Trump has gone as far as to threaten to withhold emergency funding from schools which are not open in person, and provide the funding to charter and private schools instead, who have already opened their doors to students. This goes against CDC recommendations, which state that complete in-person learning puts students and teachers at higher risk of Covid infection. He has been transparent about his intention to support in-person learning throughout this ordeal, and has received pushback from both the education sector and medical experts. As for Joe Biden, since he is not president, we have no concrete evidence as to how he will address this pandemic, so we must look at his proposed plans on the subject. The first thing Biden plans to do, if he wins the election, is to pass the HEROES Act to provide emergency relief to K-12 education and institutions of higher education, so that they can reconfigure spaces, purchase PPE, and hire assistance as necessary. He then intends to work with organizations such as the CDC to create clear and scientifically accurate guidelines for reopening schools safely, at a pace determined by local experts and school districts. Then, he wants to increase the number of school psychologists and certified counselors in schools, to help care for and monitor students’ mental health during this transitional period. His plan also promises to make a White House committee which will address the educational gap created by this pandemic, and specifically the extent of its effect on minority communities. As an extra measure, Biden wants to set up a grant for school districts that come up with creative solutions to respond to the pandemic’s effects in their schools. Since Joe Biden has not had the platform of president to implement these plans, there is no way to know how or what parts of this extensive plan would actually end up being implemented, and when the plans would actually take effect in the midst of everything else that the nation currently faces. Conclusion to my Fellow Students While doing research for this article, I came to appreciate the uniqueness of the struggle that we, as students, face when it comes to times like these. I am only seventeen as of now, seven months too young to cast a vote in this presidential election, but the outcome of this election will, either way, have a lasting effect on the remainder of my education in high school, and later college. Most students, by the nature of their age, have no political voice in the education they receive, which leaves the decisions regarding their personal education to be made by people who are years, and sometimes decades, removed from their own educational years. We have the right to a say in our own education since we’re the ones actually in the thick of it, but how can we make it happen without a ballot? We have to talk to voters. We have to make our voices heard. Talk to your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, teachers, and anyone else with the power to make political change happen, and let them know what you want from your education. This doesn’t just mean advocating for yourself during presidential elections like this one, but constantly doing so, during local elections, during state elections, and during midterms, as every last one of these has the power to make change happen. So to all of my fellow students, this is a call to inform yourselves and to take your education into your own hands! We can make change happen- we are only as powerless as we accept ourselves to be. Sources: Joe Biden for President. “Joe Biden's Roadmap to Reopening Schools Safely.” Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website, 16 Sept. 2020, joebiden.com/school-reopening/. Donald J. Trump for President. “Education.” President Donald J. Trump's Accomplishments, 2020, www.promiseskept.com/achievement/overview/education/. Reston, Maeve. “Donald Trump's Mind-Bending Logic on School Reopenings.” CNN, Cable News Network, 25 July 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/07/25/politics/donald-trump-schools-reopening-coronavirus/index.html. United States Senate. “Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act.” Fact Sheet. Senate. Washington, D.C. n.d. Web. United States, Congress, Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act. 2020. 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