When Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election early in November, talk about who he would appoint to various Cabinet positions and other roles in his administration came almost immediately. Though President-elect Biden has announced who will serve in some of these roles, others remain to be filled.
One of these is the future Secretary of Education of the United States. This position, among other potential policies, has the potential to drastically reshape the trajectory of our education system. In today’s article, I take a look at what the incoming Biden campaign has promised to do, what educators across the country propose, and which of these points are the most impactful to the future of the U.S. Education system.
Biden’s Policy Proposals
Put broadly, the Biden Administration plans to emphasize better pay and resources for teachers. This is an effort to increase psychologists and counselors in schools, eliminate funding gaps between school districts, and place special emphasis on early childhood education. Each of these policy goals will ultimately target specific issues in our education system like achievement gaps and career-readiness.
With that said, there ae other, perhaps more specific, policies that we need to see for the goals the Biden campaign outlines to become impactful realities. What are these, and what will a successful education plan look like for our students?
Teacher Pay
Over and over again, we hear that investment in our teachers is the most effective way to create lasting change in education. Currently, the U.S. Department of Education only controls roughly 10 percent of all the funds spent on K-12 education. This means that wealthier school districts can rely on funding from local sources, while poorer communities have less budgetary wiggle-room. This process, which exacerbates the problems created by redlining, reinforces the segregated schools we see today. In efforts to combat this issue, the Biden campaign promised to triple funding for Title I, helping to ensure equal opportunities in education at the federal level.
Professional pay, funded in part by this increased funding to Title I, is a crucial step in bettering the education system in the United States. Without it, quality teachers will not be as motivated to teach in schools where local budgets cannot compensate them fairly. Students in these underfunded school districts will be left behind.
Professional pay is important because of the ways it helps to recruit the best teachers and erodes the marginalization of education professionals. Often, teaching is taken less seriously than other types of employment with the same level of education because of factors like pay. Whether this policy promise can be implemented is uncertain. However, if the incoming administration can bridge gaps in pay and funding, our education system will be better off.
School Psychologists and Counselors
Counselors are vital resources to their schools. Like teachers guide their students through learning various subjects and skills, school counselors help them through the emotional challenges of growing into adulthood. According to the CDC, 20 percent of children experience mental health challenges during their time in school. While the mental health stigma in the United States reaches far beyond K-12, we can begin to mend the problems that it causes by investing in our students’ mental health. To this end, the Biden Administration plans to double the number of psychologists, counselors, nurses, and other health professionals in schools, along with investing more in infrastructure and helping parents navigate school programs they might be unfamiliar with.
Though this policy certainly cannot hurt, the National Education Association suggests that it may not be enough to have its desired effect. According to the NEA, social and emotional learning should be embedded in our schools and curriculum for measurable impact to occur. Not only does this mean more counselors positioned in schools, but a greater emphasis on research driven by childhood development questions, adaptive and dynamic learning environments, and specific SEL (Social Emotional Learning) programming. In addition to placing more counselors and other professionals in schools, we should be placing emotional learning directly into our curriculums to yield the best results.
Pre-K and Early Childhood Education
More learning occurs between birth and the age of three years old than any other three-year period in a child’s life. Though most children do not enter kindergarten until they are about five or six years old, the Biden campaign outlines a commitment to pre-kindergarten and other early childhood through universal pre-K programs. For many families, finding a quality pre-K program is potentially burdensome, and it is even more difficult for families living where few options are available. This universal pre-kindergarten comes also with a commitment to an expansion of home visiting for young children under the Affordable Care Act.
Organizations like the NEA agree with this policy of President-elect Biden. The NEA has called on the Biden Administration to increase funding for programs like Early Head Start, an affordable option for early childhood education, along with funding and focus on pre-K programs. The NEA also agrees with the concept of universal pre-kindergarten. The scope of any federal effort to increase funding for programs like Early Head State is yet to be seen.
Of course, there are a plethora of other issues that various education associations and institutions want to see implemented by the Biden Administration. Things like racial and gender discrimination, school discipline, and literacy remain areas that need fixing by the next President and whichever advisors he ends up choosing. Thus, we are all watching closely as President Trump reaches his final months in office to see where Joe Biden and his administration will lead us in education reform.
- Exploring Solutions to Generational Illiteracy in the United States - December 23, 2020
- The Impact of Biden’s Education Policy Plans - December 2, 2020
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