President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he鈥檚 dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement on the Democratic ticket.
As a result, the future of the Democrats鈥� K-12 policy agenda will lie in the hands of his replacement.
The decision followed weeks of Democratic hand-wringing over Biden鈥檚 viability and his potential to drag down the prospects of other Democrats across the nation.
While Biden has endorsed Harris, his replacement will be chosen officially at the Democratic National Convention, which starts on Aug. 19 in Chicago. Some top Democrats have started calling for the party to unite around Harris. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, tweeted Sunday that the.
But in addition to Harris, a number of other Democrats鈥攎ainly governors鈥攈ave been floated as potential replacements for the president.
The official nominee will help determine the party鈥檚 education policy priorities. They aren鈥檛 likely to stray far from Biden鈥檚 education agenda, which has been dominated by efforts that have been held up in courts to forgive student loan debt and expand protections for LGBTQ+ students and school staff through a rewrite of rules for Title IX, the nation鈥檚 landmark sex discrimination law.
Unlike some of his predecessors, Biden hasn鈥檛 pursued an aggressive education policy agenda before Congress or emphasized a particular set of school improvements. But he has secured funding increases for key federal programs including Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
On the Republican side, the party has proposed a platform that calls for eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, defunding schools that teach 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� or 鈥済ender ideology,鈥� and universal private school choice.
Here鈥檚 what we know about Vice President Harris鈥� stance on education, along with other potential replacements, some of whom quickly endorsed her, potentially positioning themselves as running mates.
Vice President Kamala Harris
Before becoming vice president, Harris was a senator representing California and ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary election. In her 2020 campaign, she advocated for universal preschool and free college and called for a $13,500 raise for every teacher by the end of her first term. She also used to criticize conservative politicians for 鈥渁ttacking鈥� public schools and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a 2020 primary debate, Harris sparred with Biden over school segregation, criticizing the now-president for his opposition in the 1970s to busing as a strategy to desegregate schools.
鈥淭here was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to schools every day,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淎nd that little girl was me.鈥�
As senator, Harris the Strength in Diversity Act, which would promote school diversity initiatives, including busing. The bill stalled in the Senate.
During her time as senator, from 2017 to 2021, Harris sponsored four bills related to education, none of which passed. (Republicans controlled the Senate during her tenure, and Donald Trump was president.)
Two were directly related to K-12 schools. The would have directed the Education Department to provide grants to local school districts to support aligning the school day with family work schedules and building stronger relationships between families and school districts.
The would have directed the Education Department to provide funding for school districts to cover the costs of STEM education activities for girls and children from racial minorities.
Before her time in the Senate, Harris pushed for harsher consequences for parents whose children weren鈥檛 attending school. As the San Francisco district attorney, she threatened parents with court action if their children missed too much school. Later, as California鈥檚 attorney general, Harris pushed for a 2011 state law that allowed district attorneys to charge parents with a misdemeanor if their child missed 10 percent of the school year.
She has since said she regrets championing that law and said she wouldn鈥檛 support such a law on the federal level.
鈥淢y regret is that I have now heard stories where in some jurisdictions DAs have criminalized the parents,鈥� Harris said in a 鈥淚 regret that that has happened and the thought that anything I did could have led to that. That certainly wasn鈥檛 the intention.鈥�
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
Shapiro, a first-term governor in a key swing state, recently negotiated a 2024-25 budget with a K-12 funding increase of over $1 billion. The package also includes money universal free breakfast for the state鈥檚 1.7 million students, according to the governor鈥檚 website.
Within a few hours of Biden鈥檚 announcement, Shapiro that 鈥渢he best path forward for the Democratic Party is to quickly unite鈥� around the vice president. Shapiro, as governor of a crucial battleground state, is seen as a contender to be Harris鈥� running mate should she secure the nomination.
Hanging over Shapiro鈥檚 time as governor has been a judge鈥檚 landmark February 2023 ruling that the state鈥檚 school funding system was unconstitutional, failing to adequately fund the state鈥檚 schools. Education advocates have said the funding increases so far fall short of what the legal ruling requires.
Shapiro stands out among Democrats in his support for school choice, traditionally a Republican policy priority.
Last summer, the Pennsylvania governor initially supported a $100 million voucher program that would help parents pay for private school. He backed down amid pressure from Democrats in the state鈥檚 House of Representatives, but maintains his support for a voucher program.
The new budget Shapiro signed increases funding for the state鈥檚 limited tax-credit scholarship programs, through which businesses can receive tax credits for funding private school scholarships.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
The second-term governor of a key swing state pushed back on calls for Biden to drop out, and that her 鈥渏ob in this will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump.鈥� Still, many in Democratic circles have suggested she would be a strong replacement nominee.
As governor, Whitmer signed a $24.3 billion education budget in 2023 that increased per-pupil funding by 5 percent and allocated extra funding for economically disadvantaged students, English learners, and students with disabilities, according , a local nonprofit news organization.
In December 2023, Whitmer also launched a new state Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, known as MiLEAP, which is tasked with improving outcomes for students in preschool through college. The department has goals of ensuring every child is ready for kindergarten, every student has the chance to earn a skill certificate or degree after high school, and that school districts can partner with outside organizations so students have more opportunities for learning outside the classroom,
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Pritzker, another second-term governor, signed a 2023 state budget that increased K-12 funding by more than $1 billion. He鈥檚 also signed laws to and implement career exploration and development programs for students in grades 6-12.
In 2021, Pritzker that requires schools to better prepare students in computer literacy, laboratory science, and foreign languages, and expands required Black history curriculum to include lessons on the conditions leading to slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. The law also establishes and Inclusive American History Commission, a Professional Review Panel, and a Whole Child Task Force to examine ways to make schools more equitable and improve students鈥� overall well-being.
In another move pushing back against conservative education politics, Pritzker signed a bill last year .
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Newsom, in his second term leading the nation鈥檚 largest state, has made a name for himself on the national stage as the Democrats鈥� answer to high-profile conservative politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he faced in a televised debate last November. During the debate, Newsom criticized DeSantis for passing policies that he says harm LGBTQ+ students and students of color.
Like Gov. Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Newsom didn鈥檛 wait long to , saying on X that 鈥渘o one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump鈥檚 dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America鈥檚 Vice President.鈥� As a fellow Californian, Newsom is seen as less likely to be a running mate for Harris.
As governor, Newsom aggressively pushed back against conservative school board politics. He鈥檚 gone after school districts for passing policies to reject curriculum about LGBTQ+ history, signed an executive order to expand career and technical education, and negotiated K-12 budget increases with teachers鈥� unions.
Just this month, Newsom signed a first-of-its-kind law that prohibits schools from requiring educators to tell parents if a student requests to go by a different name or pronouns at school鈥攁 direct rebuke to laws passed in a number of Republican-led states that require such disclosure. Already, a southern California school board that passed a policy requiring such notifications .
