POLITICO: Dem Govs Are “Boosting Public Education Funding to Record Amounts”

POLITICO: Dem Govs Are “Boosting Public Education Funding to Record Amounts”

A new POLITICO report highlights how Democratic governors have used their power to deliver historic investments in education while their Republican counterparts remain “fixated on harmful agendas like targeting transgender children and stoking other culture war issues.”

Examples of these investments include Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signing the biggest education budget increase in Minnesota history, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore unveiling a first-of-its-kind service year initiative for high school graduates and setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in education in the future.

Alongside historic investments in education, the report notes, Democrats have rallied around helping working families by providing crucial relief from the skyrocketing cost of childcare: “Minnesota’s education budget helps low-income families pay for child care while attending work or school and increases wages for providers. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey is seeking to hike early education spending by 25 percent, a boost intended to avoid widespread closures of daycare centers across the state.”

Meanwhile, as Republican governors only campaign on divisive partisan battles in education, “state-level Democrats believe they have a potent counterpunch by boasting about big funding hikes and new programs like free meals all aimed at improving student achievement,” according to POLITICO.

This point is backed up by the fact that Democratic governors like Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others, won reelection in 2022 by focusing on their records of delivering real results when it comes to public education vs. opponents who ran on stoking culture wars.

Read more about how Democratic governors are delivering big wins for students and working families and making sure public education is a “top issue in the 2024 election cycle.”

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