Democrat Joe Biden has been elected 46th president of the United States after running on an ambitious agenda for K-12 education that was later overshadowed by his plans to address the coronavirus pandemic and its ongoing effects on students and schools.
The former Democratic vice president, whose victory was called by the Associated Press Saturday morning after a close election and days of vote-counting in multiple states, has promised a sharp U-turn from the education philosophy and policies of his competitor, Republican President Donald Trump, in areas including the COVID-19 crisis, civil rights enforcement in schools, and aid for underprivileged students.
“I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect [Kamala] Harris,” Biden said in a statement. “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.”
But as the vote count grew in Biden's favor throughout the week, Trump remained defiant in challenging its legitimacy, tweeting that he had won the election less than an hour before several news outlets declared Biden the winner.
Biden, 77, will take office with plans to significantly boost federal education funding and to focus on “neighborhood public schools” rather than charter schools. And he ran on outspoken opposition to the efforts to use public funds to help children attend private schools that became a signature of his predecessor.
Where U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos frequently criticized teachers’ unions for blocking the “reinvention” she supported, Biden embraced them. He embedded their priorities—like criticism of “high stakes testing” and demands for more resources for CONTINUE READING: Joe Biden's Election as President Tees Up Massive Shifts for K-12 Policy - Education Week
