Caroline Hendrie, the executive director of the Education Writers Association, discusses how education is playing out as an issue in the 2016 presidential election, and what’s at stake in November.
Now that the White House race has narrowed to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, how is education playing out as an issue in the campaign? Will it prove an important fault line between the Democratic and Republican candidates? Will Trump offer any details to contrast with Clinton’s extensive set of proposals from early childhood to higher education? What are the potential implications for schools and colleges depending on who wins the White House? Also, what other races this fall should be on the radar of journalists, whether elections for Congress, state legislatures, or governor?
The election of Republican Donald Trump is sure to reshape federal policy for education in significant ways, from prekindergarten to college, especially coupled with the GOP’s retaining control of Congress.
Although Trump spent relatively little time on education in his campaign, he did highlight the issue from time to time, from his sharp criticism of the Common Core and high student debt loads to proposing a plan to significantly expand school choice. And Congress has a long to-do list, including reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Although education did not figure prominently in the 2016 presidential election, the victory of Republican Donald Trump is expected to have important implications for policy and funding across the educational spectrum. The president’s choice for education secretary of Betsy DeVos — who narrowly won confirmation by the Senate — is widely seen as a clear signal that school choice will be a top educational priority of the new administration.
