‘TGIF Time-saver’: How might Kamala Harris approach K12 education?

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Man, what a wild month it’s been in the world of politics. For education leaders, the one piece of news that might be most relevant is the possibility of a Kamala Harris presidency after President Joe Biden announced the end of his 2024 bid. How might Harris approach K12 education if she wins this year’s election?

Who is Kamala Harris?

The Biden-Harris administration has strengthened Title IX and championed student loan forgiveness. Now, Harris is gaining support from prominent education figures even in the short time she has been the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Most recently, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, the American Federation of Teachers, endorsed Harris during its national convention in Houston.

“The American People have a great choice in Kamala Harris for President,” AFT President Randi Weingarten told ABC13. “We need to stand together on behalf of democracy, human rights and economic rights for working people.”

Harris is also a proponent of increases to Title I, which provides money to schools that serve higher shares of students from low-income families. She also has promised to increase funding for Head Start to ensure children receive access to these programs.

Teachers may also benefit under a Harris presidency. During her last campaign, she proposed closing the compensation gap between teachers and similarly educated professionals, Chalkbeat reports. At the time, she aspired to bump the average teacher pay by $13,500.

So far, Harris’ campaign reports it’s raised more than $100 million after its launch.

Data dive

As always, we’ve got some timely research to share with you. How about a survey that taps into the current challenges and innovations shaping education in the 2024-25 school year? PowerSchool’s “2024 Education Focus Report” suggests a need for personalized learning, embracing AI, bold leadership and data utilization, among other priorities.

“The U.S. education system is currently balancing two critical goals: tackling urgent challenges while innovating the student learning experience,” Ryan Imbriale, vice president and head of worldwide education at PowerSchool and former district leader, said in a public statement.

Additionally, our friends at Burbio have released the latest installment of their School Board Meeting Tracker, which covers school board meetings for more than 2,000 school districts serving more than 55% of the K12 school population. This week, researchers looked into the prevalence of social media and related topics during school board meetings. Here’s what they found:

  • Nearly 33% of districts covered “social media,” which includes platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snap and Snapchat.
  • Nearly 25% of districts addressed “bullying” and cyber-bullying.
  • Around 12% of districts discussed cell phones.
  • Nearly 5% of districts covered “phone policy,” which refers to phone ban-related discussions.

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Micah Ward
Micah Wardhttps://districtadministration.com
Micah Ward is a District Administration staff writer. He recently earned his master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Alabama. He spent his time during graduate school working on his master’s thesis. He’s also a self-taught guitarist who loves playing folk-style music.

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