Kamala Harris

In her presidential primary campaign in 2020, Harris called for “significantly increasing” Title I funding, as well as incentives for states to perform racial and resource equity audits, increase public school spending, and enact “more equitable funding formulas.” She also called for full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and more money for Head Start.

The Biden administration has tried in multiple budget proposals to increase Title I funding amid Republican proposals for significant cuts. The Biden White House has also pushed for increases to other education-related programs, such as the Office for Civil Rights, Head Start and English Language Acquisition.

Kamala Harris

Harris opposed the Trump administration's 2020 TItle IX regulations, the draft rule for which was released in 2018. As a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris said the rules "would make it harder for sexual assault survivors to seek justice." 

The Biden-Harris administration prioritized rewriting the Title IX regulations once more, and its new rule went into effect on Aug. 1, expanding protections under the anti-sex discrimination law to LGBTQ+ students for the first time. The new rule's sexual harassment reporting and investigation procedures are also more friendly to K-12 settings, Title IX experts say.

Kamala Harris

The 2024 Democratic platform calls for the use of school-based social and emotional supports,  literacy programs and high expectations for students around attendance to reduce chronic absenteeism. These, the platform says, are among several key approaches that are proven to help students learn.

During her time as district attorney in San Francisco, Harris drew criticism for approaching school truancy from a criminal justice angle after she raised the specter of legal consequences for parents and backed a state law criminalizing the issue. As her stance on the issue evolved, she later expressed regret for her earlier hardline approach to absenteeism, which some critics said disproportionately hurt Black families. 

Highlighting that evolution, Harris’ tenure as attorney general of California included annual reports documenting truancy and chronic absenteeism across the state. The reports called attention to the impact on state funding and student learning, and they represented the first statewide data analysis of the issue, according to FutureEd, an independent think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Kamala Harris

As a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Harris proposed a $315 billion plan to raise teacher pay by an average $13,500 per year over a decade. Though Harris has not reupped any similar proposal during the 2024 campaign, she did nod to the issue when she said, “God knows we don’t pay you enough as it is,” to a roomful of teachers during a July 25 speech at the American Federation of Teachers’ national convention.

Kamala Harris

Harris has made known her distaste for curriculum and book restrictions, most recently doing so during a July appearance at the American Federation of Teachers national convention in Houston. In her speech, she expressed support for LGBTQ+ rights and condemned Republican-led book bans and so-called "Don't Say Gay" laws. 

“While you teach students about our nation’s past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation’s true and full history,” she told teachers. “We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books. Can you imagine?”

Kamala Harris

The Democratic platform says four-year colleges are not the only pathway to a good career. "The Administration is expanding job training partnerships that connect high schools, local businesses, and labor unions to prepare students for good jobs in high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industries," the platform states.  

As vice president, Harris has supported the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to increase investments in science, technology, engineering and math education as well as expanded access to CTE.

Kamala Harris

As a U.S. senator from California, Harris had joined other Democratic leaders in calling for full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. When originally created by Congress in 1975, the federal government promised to support 40% of the per-pupil cost of special education services, but that figure is about 11%.

Kamala Harris

As a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and as vice president, Kamala Harris has advocated for universal preschool programs. "Our agenda will also make universal pre-care — universal preschool a universal reality," Harris said in 2021, regarding the Biden administration's Build Back Better agenda. "Every three- and four-year-old will have access to a high-quality preschool."

In their 2024 platform, Democrats are calling for free, universal preschool for 4-year olds. This would save the families of 5 million children an average of $13,000 a year each, according to the platform. 

At the AFT convention in July, Harris criticized Project 2025's proposal to eliminate Head Start. Project 2025 is a Republican blueprint for a second Trump administration and written by former Trump officials. Trump, at times, has distanced himself from Project 2025 proposals.

The Biden-Harris administration has awarded funding to states to support families with young children, including through home visiting and school readiness initiatives.

Kamala Harris

As vice president, Harris has touted the Biden administration’s $5 billion, five-year investment to support the rollout of electric school buses nationwide, using funds from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That same law opened up $500 million at the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the Renew America’s Schools grant program, which promotes clean energy upgrades in K-12 public schools.

Kamala Harris

School mental health support and services have been among the Biden administration’s top education priorities. In January, Harris announced $285 million for schools to hire and train mental health counselors under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a public safety and gun violence reduction law passed in the wake of the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The 2024 Democratic Platform credits $1 billion in funding under that law for the hiring or training of 14,000 school-based mental health counselors. 

In a May 2023 Facebook post, Harris stated, “Our nation must do more to care for students' mental health and wellness," adding that she and President Joe Biden "are committed to doubling the number of mental health professionals in schools.”

Kamala Harris

When Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice president pick, universal school meals re-entered the education policy conversation. As governor, Walz signed legislation in 2023 allowing all students in the state to receive free breakfast and lunch at school. 

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under the Biden-Harris administration, finalized a rule expanding access to free school meals for an additional 3,000 high poverty school districts. And this year, the USDA approved an update to school nutrition standards that will gradually reduce added sugars and sodium in school meals. The changes are expected to cost schools $206 million per year nationwide, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Kamala Harris

The Democratic platform expresses concern that private and religious private school voucher programs will siphon much-needed money and resources away from public schools. "We oppose the use of private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education," the platform states.

Democrats promise to increase accountability at charter schools by "holding them to the same transparency standards as public schools."

Kamala Harris

As part of her economic plan for her first 100 days in office, Harris has proposed restoring the expanded child tax credit that was implemented under the American Rescue Plan but expired in 2021. The proposal would provide up to $3,600 per child in a tax credit for middle- and lower-income households, up from the current $2,000 per child for households with annual incomes of $2,500 to $400,000.

Harris also proposed a new child tax credit up to $6,000 for low- and middle-income families with children under 1 year old to address "when a family’s expenses are highest." The tax credit would apply to households making less than $400,000 a year.