This is last in my series. One more Party Platform to review after this one. This is important work. But IT’S HARD!!

Okay, let’s get right at it. What could be more important than Education.

So here’s the Democrats’ Providing a World-Class Education in Every Zip Code:

The opening paragraph of this section of the Democratic Platform expresses the idea that education is fundamental to fulfilling our nation’s promise. They consider education a critical public good and that it’s government’s responsibility to ensure that every child, everywhere can get a world-class education.

We will	By	So that	Progress
Expand access to high-quality early childhood programs.	Working with states to offer pre-K for all three- and four-year olds; Expanding Head Start and Early Head Start; Increasing resources to the communities with the highest need; Ensuring access to early childhood programs for students with disabilities and English language learners.	We guarantee universal early childhood education	No specific legislation or regulation found.
Make major investments to increase quality options for parents and increase compensation for providers.	Making child care and dependent tax credits more generous; Increasing funds to states for that low-income and middle class families; Expanding proven programs for low-income and first-time parents.	Low and middle income families can afford child care.	Child care and dependant tax credits were improved in the “American Rescue Plan of 2021”
Make major investments to increase quality options for parents and increase compensation for providers.	Raising early childhood standards; providing ongoing professional development for early childhood educators	Children’s academic, social development, behavioral, and cognitive needs are being met	No specific law or regulation found.
Close the school funding gap	Tripling Title I funding; Incentivizing states to adopt progressive funding formulas that direct resources to the schools that need it most; Ensuring sustainable, reliable funding for rural schools and Bureau of Indian Education schools.	We have high-quality K-12 schools	Supplemental Impact Aid Flexibility Act improves the calculations for the way school districts are eligible for aid. It was enacted in January 2022.
Support wraparound health care and nutrition services, before- and after-school programs, adult education classes, and other services	Expanding universal free school meal programs; Expanding the community school model.	Our public schools are pillars of our neighborhoods and our society.	Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 expands some of the qualifications and reimbursements for breakfasts, snacks, and lunches. HR 5308 Nutrition Education Act requires 50 hours of nutrition education for students on the school lunch program. This stands a 3% chance of passing.
Expand access to career and technical education, magnet schools for science and the arts, International Baccalaureate programs, and early college high schools to offer multiple pathways to meet the diverse needs and interests of America’s high school students. Increase investments in high-quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs in our public schools, support access to computer science for all and improve professional development opportunities for math and science teachers.	Creating a national science corps of outstanding STEM teachers serving as leaders in their schools and communities; Providing funds for underrepresented students, including students of color, girls, and low-income students;	Students have multiple public school pathways to be able to access the opportunities they deserve; We reduce enrollment and achievement gaps; Students develop the deep learning and life skills needed to thrive in the 21st century economy, including critical and creative thinking, leadership, and judgment and decision-making.	The Infrastruction Investment and Jobs Act of 2022 provides education and training funding for underrepresented students. There is a National Stem Society. I found no evidence that it is government sponsored.
Have charter schools that provide increased flexibility in program design and operations; Oppose private school vouchers and other policies that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from the public school system.	Banning for-profit private charter businesses from receiving federal funding; Requiring all charter schools to meet the same standards of transparency as traditional public schools; Conditioning federal funding for new, expanded charter schools or for charter school renewals on a district’s review of whether the charter will systematically underserve the neediest students.	Education is not saddled with a private profit motive. Charter schools are good stewards of federal education funds.	“Higher Standards for Charter School Funding” requires charter schools to submit a “community impact analysis” to DoEd in order to receive federal funds. (This rule became effective in August 2022)
Facilitate improved integration; Reinvigorate and increase funding for the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and improve federal data collection on racial segregation in schools; Protect sensitive locations like schools from immigration enforcement actions and will ensure English language learners receive the support they need to succeed.	Appointing judges who will enforce the Civil Rights Act in schools; Funding magnet schools and school transportation initiatives to help.	Schools are safe zones for children and their families.	Biden has appointed 75 judges, the most in this point in his presidency since Kennedy.
Make sure all schools should have adequate resources to expand school-based health services and hire guidance counselors, social workers, and school psychologists to help support students’ mental health needs and social and emotional development/	Reinstate Department of Education guidance protecting transgender students’ rights under Title IX.	Our schools are spaces of physical and psychological safety for students and educators. We make clear that schools shall not discriminate based on LGBTQ+ status.	Trump era rule limiting the rules for sexual harassment investigations was overturned in August 2022. “Expanding Title IX Protection” edefines “harassment” as referenced in Title IX as all “sex-based harassment” rather than only sexual harassment. The rule clarifies that sex-based harassment includes: (1) a school employee explicitly or implicitly conditioning services on a person’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct; (2) pervasive, unwelcome sex-based conduct that, evaluated objectively and subjectively, limits a person’s ability to partake in an education program; (3) sexual assault as defined by the FBI. The rule also prohibits discrimination in schools based on gender identity or sexual orientation as well as sex stereotyping, sex characteristics, or pregnancy, stating that these classifications depend in part on sex. This language mimics the Supreme Court’s verdict in a 2020 employment discrimination case (Bostock v. Clayton County), in which the Court found discrimination against transgender and gay employees constitutes unlawful sex discrimination because these identities are necessarily rooted in sex. (This rule was proposed in June 2022 and is not yet effective.) “Title IX Guidance on Transgender Rights,” an Obama era rule that was rescinded by Trump, was reinstated in June 2021.
Ban seclusion and prevent and decrease use of physical restraint, in partnership with teachers, school administrators, and the disability rights movement; Support aggressive enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act in schools and other settings.	Fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Olmstead decision to provide school districts with additional resources to better serve students with disabilities; Fully implementing the law’s least restrictive environment requirement.	Students with disabilities have equal educational opportunities.	No specific bill or rule found.
Work to end the use standardized tests and high-stakes tests and encourage states to develop reliable, continuous, evidence-based approaches to student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures that better represent student achievement.	Using measures supported by data collection and analysis disaggregated by race, gender, disability status, and other important variables, to	We identify disparities in educational equity, access, and outcomes.	No specific bill or rule found.
Fight to significantly increase pay and benefits for all educators; Support measures to help teachers pay for out-of- pocket classroom expenses; Support programs to help introduce high school students to the teaching profession,	??	We recruit, retain, and reward high-quality teachers and professionals; We enable school support staff to climb the professional ladder within schools, and recruit a diverse educational workforce through partnerships with HBCUs, MSIs, and TCUs.	S186 Early Educators Apprenticeship Act will incentivize young people to explore early childhood education. This stands a 3% chance of passing.
Make higher education affordable and accessible.	Making public colleges and universities tuition-free for students whose families earn less than $125,000—roughly 80 percent of the American people; Doubling the maximum Pell Grant award for low-income students; Doubling federal support for TRIO programs that help first-generation college students, students with disabilities, veterans, and other underrepresented groups apply to and complete college.	Everyone can earn a degree, if they want, beyond high school without money standing in the way.	By executive order: no payments for undergraduate student loans will be cut in half.
Make higher education affordable and accessible.	Working to provide grants to HBCUs, MSIs, and TCUs; Making community colleges tuition-free for all student, including Dreamers.	We lower student costs, increase academic research capabilities, and ensure these essential institutions can continue to thrive in the future.	No action identified.
Make higher education affordable and accessible.	Increasing federal support for services like child care on college campuses; Increasing funding for wraparound services, including covering the cost of textbooks and fees for low-income students and establishing programs to address campus food insecurity.	More students are able to balance the demands of school and family and graduate with degrees; Students can focus on what matters most: their studies.	No specific bill or rule found.
Create a federal funding program for higher education, modeled on Title I funding for K-12 schools. Promote transparency and fairness regarding higher education faculty working conditions, including adjuncts, graduate employees, and full-time lecturers who are often grossly underpaid compared to full professors, and support and encourage professor tenure; Safeguard academic freedom on college campuses.	???	We adequately fund public and nonprofit colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions based on the proportion of low-income students those schools enroll and graduate.	No specific bill or rule found.
Help families weather the Covid-19 crisis.	Authorizing up to $10,000 in student debt relief per borrower.	We provide Borrowers Relief from crushing student debt.	By executive order: $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples)
Ease the burden of high monthly student loan payments.	Pausing monthly billing and stopping interest from accruing on federal student loans for people earning less than $25,000, and capping payments at no more than five percent of discretionary income for those earning more than $25,000 Forgiving federal student loan debt after 20 years without tax liability; Forgiving all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities for those earning less than $125,000,   Forgiving federal student loans for tuition from private HBCUs and MSIs for those earning less that $125,000.	We provide Borrowers Relief from crushing student debt.	By executive order: Loans are forgiven after 10 years of repayment. By executive order: Borrowers that make less that 225% of the poverty level no longer need to make payments. By executive order: 20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples) By executive order: No borrower’s loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low.
Modernize and improve the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program,	Making the enrollment process automatic for people who work in schools, government agencies, and non-profit organizations; Forgiving up to $10,000 in student debt per year for up to five years.	We provide Borrowers Relief from crossing student debt.	By executive order: See above. Consider Teachers Act of 2021 revises requirements for service loan forgiveness
Empower the CFPB to take action against exploitative lenders; Allow student debt to be discharged during bankruptcy.	???	We provide Borrowers Relief from crushing student debt.	By executive order: See above.
Crack down on predatory for-profit higher education programs; Ask the Secretary of Education to forgive debt carried by students who were ripped off by predatory schools, including by programs that defrauded students or that misrepresented program offerings or program outcomes, as well as debt held by people who are permanently disabled; Protect veterans and servicemembers from being steered into low-performing for-profit higher education and professional programs.	Issuing requirements that these programs be able to demonstrate their value and effectiveness before becoming eligible for federal student loans.	We provide Borrowers Relief from crushing student debt.	Ensuring the Best Schools for Veterans Act of 2022 puts in place standards for secondary education.

 

If you missed my prior State of the Union 2022 review, here are the links:

State of the Union 2022: Immigration

State of the Union 2022: Leadership

State of the Union 2022: Democracy

State of the Union 2022: Criminal Justice

State of the Union 2022: The Pandemic

State of the Union 2022: It’s The Economy

State of the Union 2022: Healthcare

State of the Union 2022: The Environment

That’s it for State of the Union until next year or later. That was HARD. It shouldn’t be so hard to find out what our elected officials are doing. Do you agree?