This series began in March by asking if you are better off now than you were four years ago. This piece delves more deeply into your family and asks you to consider how your children will fare if education is either enhanced or diminished. The presidential campaigns’ plans for education would have starkly different impacts on Maine’s schools and taxpayers and perhaps most importantly, on your child’s future.

The GOP plan echoes the more detailed Project 2025 that calls for the elimination of both Head Start and the federal Department of Education (DOE) and in its place creates universal Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). It also intends to privatize student loans. The Harris campaign calls for increases in funds to support attendance, tutoring, and summer programming to increase student achievement along with continuing support for Head Start, the DOE, and student loan forgiveness through the American Rescue Plan.

The federal Department of Education’s (DOE) official mission is “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” DOE provides 13.6% of funding for public K-12 education through many programs such as Title I for students living in poverty, school nutrition, and special education for which Maine has a disproportionately high number of students, among many others. Just the elimination of Title I, as proposed by the GOP, would lead to the loss of 698 teaching positions, which serve 7,995 students, in Maine. Elimination of the DOE would be devastating to many schools, especially those in higher poverty and rural areas that rely more heavily on state and federal funding.

The Harris campaign builds on the current education programs that have provided $1,021,690,359 in federal emergency relief funding to support student learning in Maine since 2020. In a research report by Harvard University released this summer, this investment improved student learning, especially in targeted under-performing schools.

Maine has 116 Head Start centers across the state that served 2,671 children in 2023. This is a fraction of the number of children eligible for services that are funded at 80% by the federal government. The proposal to eliminate Head Start would further exacerbate the early childhood care crisis in Maine, adding a further drag on our available workforce. Head Start is well researched and has shown to have a 13% return on investment annually, making a huge impact in our local communities.

The federal student loan forgiveness programs have had a significant impact for Maine with 32,500 Mainers currently enrolled in the Biden-Harris administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. In an initial round in 2024, 700 Mainers were set to have about $5.3 million in loans forgiven until the US Supreme Court blocked it in June. The loans will continue to remain in forbearance until the courts resolve the issue. Project 2025 replaces income-driven repayment (IDR) plans like SAVE, with a one-size-fits-all program that would increase payments for all borrowers. Under Project 2025, 32,500 borrowers in Maine enrolled in SAVE would pay $2,700 to $4,100 more each year.

Maine has tax-advantaged 529 plans for educational saving; it is not one of the 12 states with Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) proposed by the GOP. The states that have led the way on ESAs and school vouchers, a key part of the GOP educational plan, are now finding huge budget shortfalls. For example, in Arizona in FY 2024, ESAs cost the state $332 million  and were not part of the state budget leading to massive state budget shortfalls. Nationwide in 2019, school vouchers in 12 states cost taxpayers $2.3 billion. In a CNN analysis, these funds that are promoted as offering “school choice” to students living in poverty, were going disproportionately to urban wealthy communities and at the expense of rural taxpayers. This approach is one that could be extremely costly to the state.

There is not one segment of our society that is not dependent on some level of education. Nor is there any job that does not require the employee to have some education. As a society, we are dependent on our schools, and especially on our teachers, to prepare an educated citizenry and workforce to take over the reins for the future.

The presidential candidates have starkly different policy agendas for education that will have dramatic impacts on Maine and your future. Vote armed with information. Your vote counts.