Federal

Days After Georgia Shooting, No Mention of Safety or Schools in Trump-Harris Debate

By Evie Blad — September 10, 2024 3 min read
Ball State University students watch a presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Muncie, Ind.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump did not discuss education or school safety in the first debate between the two presidential candidates Tuesday, which happened less than a week after a mass shooting at a Georgia high school.

Moderators did not ask the candidates about a Sept. 4 attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., in which a 14-year-old student has been charged with killing two students and two teachers with an AR-15-style rifle, an act that has stirred up perennial debates over school safety and gun laws.

The Georgia shooting has also raised questions about how law enforcement and educators can more effectively intervene when youth are in crisis. In 2023, the FBI received a cluster of tips that the suspect had threatened a school shooting in an online forum. But when the boy denied making those posts, local law enforcement found there were no crimes to charge him with and alerted the middle school in his former district.

The response to that alert may have been complicated, violence prevention experts told Education Week, because school had let out for the summer, and the shooting took place after the suspect transferred to a neighboring district.

Two days after the Georgia high school shooting, a teenager was killed in another shooting at a high school in Joppatowne, Md.

See Also

Sign indicating school zone.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Tracker School Shootings This Year: How Many and Where
January 4, 2024
3 min read

Kamala Harris on school safety

In the wake of that tragedy, Harris has renewed calls to ban assault-style weapons. The Democratic Party platform also calls on lawmakers to close loopholes in background check laws, pass laws that require gun owners to safely store their firearms, and expand federal funding for gun violence research.

President Joe Biden championed the most significant piece of gun legislation in three decades when he signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act following the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. That law closed some loopholes in gun-purchasing laws and provided support for states to create and enact red flag laws, which allow courts to suspend an individual’s access to firearms if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. The legislation also provided additional funding for school safety, grant funding for states to recruit and train new school social workers and psychologists, and measures to help schools cut red tape for using Medicaid to pay for mental health treatments.

Biden also put Harris in charge of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which he created through executive order in 2023 with the support of school shooting survivors.

See Also

President Joe Biden speaks about gun safety on Sept. 22, 2023, from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., applauds at left.
President Joe Biden speaks about gun safety on Sept. 22, 2023, from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., applauds at left.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Donald Trump on school safety

Trump, who is endorsed by the National Rifle Association, has resisted efforts to change gun laws, instead blaming mental health and societal factors for school violence.

In his previous term, Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act into law following 2018 mass school shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas. That law provides grant funding for school security measures, including physical security measures, like metal detecotrs; anonymous threat reporting systems; school-based threat assessment; and training students about the importance of violence prevention.

Trump also created a federal school safety task force, led by Betsy DeVos, who served as the education secretary in his administration. That panel assembled a report that highlighted school climate and safety practices familiar to many educators, like positive behavioral interventions and supports, or PBIS. It also said arming school employees could be appropriate in some situations, such as rural campuses with slow response times from law enforcement.

Where the candidates stand on education

The federal role in education is relatively small compared to the influence and funding provided by states and districts. Despite that, the campaign has spotlighted education issues.

Harris selected a former teacher, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as her running mate. The Democratic Party platform calls for universal prekindergarten, expanded career and technical education, and a reduced emphasis on standardized testing.

Trump is running on plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, crack down on how schools teach about issues like race and sexuality, reverse a Biden administration rule on the rights of transgender students, and promote “universal school choice.”

See Also

President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, during a meeting Feb. 23, 1984 meeting  in the Cabinet Room at the White House.
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, during a meeting Feb. 23, 1984 meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House. Bell, who once testified in favor of creating the U.S. Department of Education, wrote the first plan to dismantle the agency.
Education Week with AP

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
(Re)Focus on Dyslexia: Moving Beyond Diagnosis & Toward Transformation
Move beyond dyslexia diagnoses & focus on effective literacy instruction for ALL students. Join us to learn research-based strategies that benefit learners in PreK-8.
Content provided by EPS Learning
Classroom Technology Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: Is AI Out to Take Your Job or Help You Do It Better?
With all of the uncertainty K-12 educators have around what AI means might mean for the future, how can the field best prepare young people for an AI-powered future?
Special Education K-12 Essentials Forum Understanding Learning Differences
Join this free virtual event for insights that will help educators better understand and support students with learning differences.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Explainer The U.S. Department of Education, Explained
There's a lot of talk—again—about eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. Here's what it does and how it works.
12 min read
The U.S. Department of Education, in Washington, D.C., pictured on February 21, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Education, in Washington, D.C., pictured on February 21, 2021.
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP Images
Federal The White House Set Out to Recruit Thousands of Tutors. Did It Make a Difference?
Adults stepped up, but students' needs remain high just as interventions funded by federal relief money are at risk of ending.
6 min read
President Joe Biden shakes hands with a student at Eliot-Hine Middle School on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Washington as he and first lady Jill Biden visit the school, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia's first day of school for the 2023-24 year.
President Joe Biden shakes hands with a student at Eliot-Hine Middle School on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Washington as he and first lady Jill Biden visit the school, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia's first day of school for the 2023-24 year.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Federal Opinion Education Is an Afterthought in This Election. That’s a Problem for All of Us
What does it say about our country if presidential candidates walk away from education policy? asks Bettina L. Love.
5 min read
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at the Gipsy Las Vegas in Las Vegas.
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10, 2024, at the Gipsy Las Vegas in Las Vegas.
John Locher/AP
Federal What JD Vance and Tim Walz Said About School Safety in VP Debate
Education came up in the vice presidential debate, unlike the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
3 min read
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz participate in a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz participate in a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York.
Matt Rourke/AP