Democrats at their party Congress in Chicago have unveiled an education program that combines senior priorities like universal pre-K and free community college with attacks on Republicans over Project 2025 and “private school vouchers.”
The Democrats focused their program on the achievements of the last four years and measures such as President Biden’s Debt relief for studentsThey provided few details on how to implement their initiatives, but defended the federal government’s role in education.
“What struck me was that there isn’t a lot of concreteness when it comes to education policy, especially for grades K-12. It’s more about what they’ve done and what they support and oppose conceptually, rather than setting concrete policy actions,” said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.
At the party conference level, he added: “I don’t think that’s particularly unusual.”
Concrete measures include the introduction of universal preschool facilities, vocational schools and community colleges, more resources to combat chronic school absenteeism and support students with disabilities, the expansion of Pell Grants and the improvement of conditions for prospective and established teachers.
“The difference between 2020 and 2024 that struck me most was that the discussion about charter schools was pushed way back in 2024. I think they have a less antagonistic attitude toward charter schools than they did four years ago, which may be due to the resistance they’ve experienced,” Valant said.
“I thought they were a little bit neglectful in communicating that commitment to public schools. It’s definitely there, but I expected it to be expressed a little more clearly,” he continued.
In 2019, Education Next found that 48 percent of people supported charter schools. An EdChoice poll this year, conducted in partnership with Morning Consult, found that 70 percent of parents support charter schools.
While student loan relief is a top priority for Biden, and he has forgiven more than $160 billion in debt, the party did not support the idea of universal debt forgiveness under a possible President Harris, instead touting what has already been accomplished in that regard.
“These savings will change lives and give people the freedom to buy a home, start a family or start a business with renewed hope,” the platform says.
The Democrats avoided many of the culture war themes that were prominent in the Republican version introduced last monthalthough some addressed these issues directly at the Democratic National Convention.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Tuesday criticized the Republican Party’s actions against transgender students and African-American studies.
“Americans with LGBTQ children do not want them to face discrimination in school just because the government allows it,” he said.
“Americans don’t want their children to learn in history class that slavery was a job creation program,” the governor added elsewhere. during an excavation in Florida.
At their convention in July, Republicans reaffirmed a platform that focuses on parental rights, keeps transgender girls out of women’s sports and bans “pro-Hamas radicals” from universities.
In their campaign, the Democrats specifically criticized the Republicans, particularly attacking former President Trump for his advocacy of abolishing the Department of Education and free school choice.
“We’re going to shut down education in Washington, DC. We’re going to shut it down – all these buildings everywhere and the people who hate our children in many cases. We’re going to send everything back to the States,” Trump said in a campaign video.
That idea is one of the central proposals of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s policy plan for the next conservative president. Trump has tried to distance himself from the project, although Democrats point out that many members of his administration worked on it and that he himself supports many of the ideas.
“While the Democratic Platform fights to implement this bold agenda, Donald Trump and Project 2025 are plotting to strip Americans of their freedoms and destroy our democracy. The contrast could not be greater,” the Democratic National Committee said in its platform press release.
Meanwhile, free school choice has been on the road to success since COVID-19.
At least six states have enacted universal education savings accounts (ESAs), which allow parents to take a certain amount from the state to homeschool their children or send them to private school. Other states have enacted ESA laws for different groups of students.
“We oppose the use of private school vouchers, tax-based tuition rebates, scholarships, and other programs that divert taxpayer-funded resources from public education,” the Democrats’ platform states.
