How Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s education policy could shape Ohio schools
Ohio education experts say some of former President Donald Trump’s education policies are in line with what’s already happening in Ohio in terms of universal school vouchers while Vice President Kamala Harris has spoken out against vouchers, book bans and curriculum censorship.
“I think where we have different candidates who really perceive schools and education wildly differently, and so I think figuring out which one of those values or perceptions most aligns with your own and your own experiences in public schools is something I would urge a lot of voters to think about,” said Amy Farley, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Education.
Harris’ policies
Even though Harris has not explicitly said much about education while campaigning, her track record provides insight on her stance on education policy.
“(Harris and Tim Walz) have a long record of advocating for strong public schools, investing in our students, and advocating for educators,” said Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association. OEA is affiliated with the National Education Association, who endorsed Harris.
The Biden-Harris administration expanded federal protection for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX. Trump has said he would nix those changes if reelected.
Ohio has a slew of anti-LGBTQ bills ranging from bathroom bans to parental bill of rights. A new law recently took effect that, among other things, bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sport teams.
“I think that the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education would still have some authority to enforce civil rights legislation in our schools across the country if Harris were to be elected, and I think that really is at risk if Donald Trump were elected,” Farley said. “So I think a Harris administration likely would not allow states to violate civil rights protection for students and would pursue that. And I think that the Trump administration completely intends to move those sorts of processes to the states.”
Harris took on for-profit colleges when she was California’s Attorney General. She sued Corinthian Colleges, a now defunct for-profit higher education chain, and won a $1.1 billion federal court judgment from Corinthian in 2016.
The Biden-Harris administration has invested more than $17 billion in federal investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Ohio has two HBCUs — Central State University and Wilberforce University.
Harris supports student loan forgiveness and the Biden-Harris administration has canceled almost $170 billion of student debt to 4.76 million borrowers. President Joe Biden tried to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans for borrowers and Pell Grant recipients would have been forgiven $20,000, but the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.
This could potentially hurt Harris as Biden’s vice president, said Matina Bliss, spokesperson for Honesty for Ohio Education.
“I think as long as she makes strides and shows that she’s committed to helping borrowers with these massive amounts of debt, that will go a long way,” she said.
Harris picking Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, a former public school teacher, sends the message that public education is a priority for her, education policy experts said.
“What it would mean to have a public school teacher in the executive branch who balances that with a military background and a governorship, could be really instrumental in changing the way that education is prioritized and valued in the executive branch,” Farley said.
Harris wants to preserve the Department of Education, recruit more teachers and raise educator pay. The average starting teacher salary in Ohio is $40,055 and the average teacher salary in Ohio is $66,390, according to NEA.
Harris opposes private school vouchers, something that is universal in Ohio. She has spoken out against curriculum censorship and book banning bills. A Republican lawmaker introduced a bill in Ohio earlier this year that would charge teachers and school district librarians with fifth-degree felonies for creating, reproducing, publishing, promoting or advertising “obscene material.”
Trump’s policies
Despite his attempts to distance himself from Project 2025, what Trump has said about education lines up with Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a Presidential Transition Project written by the Heritage Foundation that spells out the first 180 days in office for the next right-wing administration. Former Trump administration officials helped come up with Project 2025, which promotes Christian Nationalism values.
“It’s interesting to me that Trump has claimed to distance himself from Project 2025 as a concept or as a document, but he hasn’t done anything to distance himself from the specific policies, particularly the policies related to education,” DiMauro said.
Honesty for Ohio Education created a document outlining how Project 2025 would affect education and how it lines up with what is happening in Ohio, especially when it comes to creating universal school vouchers.
Project 2025 would get rid of the Department of Education, expand school vouchers and eliminate the Office of Head Start. Trump has said he wants to do all of those things.
DiMauro, who has concerns about all of those things, said eliminating the Department of Education would be dangerous.
“It’s reckless and ultimately it’s going to undermine critical support that our students really depend on,” he said.
The Department of Education allocates Title One funds which are federal funds given to school districts with a high percentage of low-income students. Ohio received $596 million in Title One funds in fiscal year 2023, Bliss said.
“The elimination of the Department of Education would take that funding away from Ohio entirely,” Bliss said. “Trump’s policies on education in terms of funding will have everyday effects for everyday Ohioans, for low-income families, especially for Black and brown families in urban districts. We will absolutely see impacts here, and so far, none of them are positive.”
Getting rid of the Office of Head Start would mean closing Head Start child care programs that served about 833,000 low-income children in fiscal year 2022.
“It’s really important that we have kids coming to school ready to learn, and programs like Head Start are essential, so that’s a concern,” DiMauro said.
Trump has supported book bans and censorship in the classroom. He has talked about expanding parental rights in education and ending teacher tenure laws. Ohio has a parental bill of rights piece of legislation that passed the House and is in Senate committee.
When it comes to higher education, Trump opposes student loan forgiveness. Ohio has 1.8 million borrowers with a debt balance of about $63 billion, Bliss said.
Trump has plans for a free online college called American Academy.
“That would take money from university endowments, it specifically says private university endowments, and then would put that money towards the American Academy,” Bliss said. “So that would be harmful for every private university in the state of Ohio, they potentially could lose funding and money from their endowments.”
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network. Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.
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