Rudzhan Nagiev, kbeis (both Getty Images). SLJ montage.

The U.S. presidential election will offer voters two very different paths for public education.

Vice President Kamala Harris has not yet outlined her specific education priorities as presidential hopeful. But when she chose Minnesota governor—and former public school social studies and geography teacher—Tim Walz as her running mate, she signaled the ticket’s support of public schools and teachers. The American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the United Federation of Teachers endorsed her.

As a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Harris had a $315 billion plan to raise teacher salaries with state and federal funds. There is no word whether she will renew that proposal. In campaign speeches, Harris and Walz have mentioned their opposition to book banning attempts and a commitment to teachers and public school education, as well as college debt relief.

Walz—who is the first former K–12 teacher major party candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s—has an extensive political record on education. As governor, he signed legislation that prohibits public school and college libraries from restricting or removing a book “based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys.”

The Minnesota legislation allows libraries to restrict a book if there are “legitimate” concerns related to “the appropriateness of potentially sensitive topics for the library’s intended audience” or compliance with state or federal law.

“Public education is a force for good in this country. With this bill, we’re upholding our education system, ensuring our children are fully supported, and preventing harmful book bans,” Walz said in a statement upon signing the bill. “Books are powerful, they open new worlds and expose us to new perspectives. Protecting access to books means protecting access to the information and knowledge that our kids deserve. If you’re banning books, you’re always on the wrong side of history.”

He opposed education savings accounts for parents to use for private school or homeschooling when it was proposed by Republican state lawmakers in 2021, saying at the time that the state would not defund public schools, especially following post-COVID disruptions when they needed the funding the most.

As governor, he enacted free breakfast and lunch for all students regardless of income and free menstrual products in grades 4–12, as well as free state college tuition for public school graduates whose families earn less than $80,000 a year.

This year, Walz reinstated the ability for school resource officers (SROs) to use certain holds and restraints in specific situations after a new use of force law in 2023 led districts to remove their SROs. The bipartisan, compromise bill Walz signed in March 2024 also requires SROs to have training in de-escalation techniques and managing mental health crises.

In their speeches and throughout their political careers, both Harris and Walz have defended LGBTQIA+ rights and protections.

On the Republican side, in an August conversation on X (formerly Twitter), former president Donald Trump told Elon Musk that he wants to “close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states.” He praised Iowa and Idaho as states doing a good job on education and added that he’d “bet that 35 [states] would do great” in his proposed state-run education system.

Trump also agreed with Musk, who suggested that this would create an education competition among the states and people would move to those with better education.

In addition to eliminating the federal Department of Education (DOE), the GOP ticket of Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance outlines a “plan to save American education” that includes special funding for schools that end teacher tenure and has parents elect principals.

The education policy plans spelled out on the campaign website make claims of Marxism being taught in schools and a “sinister effort to weaponize civics education.”

Trump proposes a new teaching certification for educators who “embrace patriotic values” and wants the ability to fire employees in the Department of Education that he calls “radicals.”

As part of the new teacher certification process, a Trump administration “will promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers, and celebrating rather than erasing the things that make men and women different and unique.”

In addition, he wants to cut federal funding for any school or program “pushing Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children;” and implement “massive funding preferences and favorable treatment” for all states and school districts that make the following reforms:

● “Abolish teacher tenure for grades K through 12 and adopt Merit Pay.

● Drastically cut number of school administrators, including the ‘DEI’ bureaucracy.

● Adopt a Parental Bill of Rights that includes complete curriculum transparency and a form of universal school choice.

● Implement the direct election of school principals by the parents, as the ultimate form of local control.”

In his stump speeches on the campaign trail, Trump has vowed to pull federal funding from any school with a vaccine mandate. He is not referring just to a COVID vaccine requirement; the cuts are proposed for districts mandating any vaccine. This would impact every district in every state in the country and take schools back more than 150 years in health standards.

According to the Mayo Clinic, vaccine requirements for K–12 students began in Massachusetts in 1855 when the smallpox vaccine was required to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. By 1980, all states had vaccine-related laws for children before they attended school, with requirements coming from either the state or the county. Mandated vaccinations vary from state to state, but some, like polio, are required nationwide. All states offer medical exemptions, and in some states exemptions are available for religious or philosophical reasons.

Trump has publicly supported allowing schools to display the 10 Commandments. During his presidency, he supported arming teachers, even suggesting they could receive a financial bonus for carrying a weapon.

Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025, the blueprint for the next Republican administration written by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. However, Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership” was penned by many former members of the Trump administration, some of whom have been touted for key, high-level positions should he return to the Oval Office.

The Project 2025 chapter on education begins: “Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.”

In addition, the plan proposes to end Head Start programs and Title I federal funding.

According to the Center for American Progress (CAP), an independent nonpartisan policy institute, Title I funding is critical to hiring and retaining teachers, and its elimination would cut 180,000 teaching positions and impact nearly three million students.

“At least 5 percent of teacher positions in 32 of the 50 states would be lost if federal Title I aid were eliminated,” the CAP report said. “In some states, such as Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, Nevada, and Florida, nearly 10 percent of teacher jobs would be lost. Louisiana would experience the greatest impact, with more than 12 percent of teaching positions eliminated.”