As is so usually the case, schooling largely has been overlooked of the highlight on this yr’s presidential election. However most of the matters candidates — and voters — are speaking about instantly have an effect on and contain faculties and faculties.
The Hechinger Report has coated most of the key election points, together with abortion, the economic system and immigration. Learn our protection of among the largest matters on this yr’s marketing campaign path.
We wish to know what questions you’ve gotten in regards to the election and schooling coverage. Write to us: editor@hechingerreport.org.
On abortion
Instantly after Roe was overturned, we puzzled what the fallout could be for medical schooling and shortly reported on future medical doctors who had been rethinking the place they needed to conduct their coaching. The issues raised in that piece — that abortion bans may intensify OB-GYN shortages in sure elements of the nation — started to be realized after we checked again within the following yr. States with abortion bans noticed the biggest drops in OB-GYN residency purposes. Medical faculty college students in these states expressed frustrations with the whole lack of coaching in abortion, whereas program administrators scrambled to seek out out-of-state coaching choices.
We additionally checked out anti-abortion clinics often called disaster being pregnant facilities and the outsized function they play in faculties in Texas, regardless of providing risk-focused intercourse ed programs with little proof that method helps cut back teen being pregnant or sexually transmitted infections.
“Pupil schooling has grow to be a really, crucial a part of our focus,” one middle director mentioned on a panel at a convention. “It’s a good way for us to start to instill and educate and to coach these people on the pro-life message.”
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extra election protection
Election 2024
The Hechinger Report delved into the place the presidential candidates stand on early schooling via larger schooling and past.
On the economic system
In some ways, reporting on larger schooling is reporting on the economic system. We’ve written in regards to the affect of excessive housing prices on graduate college students, the problem working faculty college students can face getting meals stamps and issues with many short-term certificates packages meant to result in a well-paying profession.
Many educators throughout the nation are attempting to explicitly tie their choices to native trade wants, like we present in Colorado the place a bunch of faculty districts has banded collectively to supply college students a brand new array of profession and technical schooling courses in line with the realm’s job market. Equally, on the larger ed stage, commerce faculty enrollment is booming, buoyed by college students who see the credentials as an reasonably priced, clear path to a job.
Associated: School scholar voting is manner up
On immigration
The surge in asylum seekers and immigrants into the nation has had actual results on many communities the place these people have settled – together with the colleges. We took a deep dive into Denver and its surrounding space, the place 1000’s of newcomer college students had been enrolled final educational yr. And whereas the colleges aimed to welcome everybody and supply acceptable assist, there have been additionally indicators of pressure. As one district official put it: “We now have some less-than-ideal circumstances. We now have some very full lecture rooms. We hear most from academics, ‘That is type of overwhelming. There’s much more youngsters and so they all want much more from me.’”
The political debates and tradition wars over immigration have additionally trickled down to varsities, as we reported in Alabama. There, a superintendent who prioritized serving to English learners was ousted. Dozens of interviews advised that antipathy in the direction of immigrants performed a job in his downfall.
On the Supreme Courtroom
The following president will possible appoint at the very least one new Supreme Courtroom justice, specialists predict. And people appointees will possible think about key schooling instances over the course of their tenure. Take, for example, final yr’s landmark case banning affirmative motion on the nation’s faculties and universities.
We’ve been monitoring the affect of that ruling, trying carefully at the way it’s affecting excessive schoolers making use of for school. As a part of that work, we gathered 50 faculty essays from highschool seniors and talked to the scholars about how they pitched themselves to admissions officers. Many reported battling the query of whether or not to speak about their racial id.
In 2022, the Supreme Courtroom took up a college prayer case, ruling in favor of a soccer coach who prayed on the sphere following video games. Now, educators and lawmakers are testing simply how far they’ll go together with a school-prayer pleasant Supreme Courtroom.
On local weather change
For years, Hechinger has been reporting on the results of local weather change — and the rise in excessive climate it brings — on schooling, from fires to floods to intense warmth. These climate occasions disrupt education, generally forcing college students to flee their houses and including to psychological well being strains. As one skilled mentioned, “Excessive climate goes to more and more affect and disrupt studying. That’s one thing that faculty leaders and directors are going to need to grapple with and begin to higher plan for.”
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However we’ve additionally checked out methods faculties and universities are utilizing local weather change as a instructing alternative. And it could possibly be an financial one as nicely — doubtlessly resulting in the creation of 1000’s of latest jobs.
On LGBTQ+ rights
Protections and rights for LGBTQ+ individuals stay a divisive situation. State lawmakers have filed a whole lot of anti-LGBTQ+ payments and the Supreme Courtroom has indicated openness to reconsidering the appropriate to identical intercourse marriage. Towards this backdrop, we regarded on the psychological well being of LGBTQ+ faculty college students, who described feeling drained and emotionally exhausted.
Some highschool college students are struggling too, particularly when the campus teams based to assist them come beneath assault. We reported on one Kentucky mother’s makes an attempt to push her faculty to create a Homosexual-Straight alliance regardless of the state’s harsh anti-LGBTQ regulation. And we’ve profiled an Alabama principal who was faraway from her publish after she started popping out as homosexual to colleagues.
And we’ve reported on how, due to a authorized morass, the nation’s Okay-12 faculties and faculties are working beneath utterly totally different rules for deal with problems with intercourse and gender discrimination, together with figuring out which bogs transgender college students can use.
Contact investigations editor Sarah Butrymowicz at 212-678-3585 or butrymowicz@hechingerreport.org.
This story in regards to the election and schooling was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, unbiased information group centered on inequality and innovation in schooling. Join the Hechinger e-newsletter.
