Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Early Care and Education

By

Aaron Loewenberg

It's hard to believe, but only about a week has passed since President Biden upended the 2024 presidential campaign and made political history with a social media post announcing his decision to "stand down" in his quest for a second term. A few minutes later, President Biden published yet another post that fundamentally changed the race when he announced his endorsement of Vice President Harris to be the presidential nominee for the Democratic party. Suddenly, a Biden-Trump matchup that even some Democratic members of the Senate feared could lead to a Trump landslide was thrown into disarray.

In the days since that surprise announcement, Kamala Harris has cemented her place as the presumptive Democratic nominee and become the focus of countless internet memes. Not only has she secured key endorsements from Democratic notables such as Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, her campaign has raised a staggering $200 million in its first week and signed up over 170,000 new volunteers. While the Harris campaign is still in its early stages and very much sees itself as the underdog against Trump, the campaign's first week has led to newfound hope for Democrats when it comes to taking back control of the House of Representatives and retaining its slim majority in the Senate.

If Kamala Harris is, in fact, successful in defeating Donald Trump and becomes the first female president in the nation's history, what kind of policies would her administration pursue when it comes to early childhood education? While the Harris campaign has yet to lay out a detailed policy agenda, the Vice President's remarks over the past week combined with her record as Senator and Vice President should have advocates of expanded access to early education feeling hopeful.

In her first public remarks since announcing her candidacy, Harris envisioned a future in which "every person has access to paid family leave and affordable child care." The first television ad released by her campaign promises a future "where no child lives in poverty." It's notable that the Vice President's first week of campaigning included a speech at the national convention of the American Federation of Teachers, the country's second largest teachers' union. In that address, Harris declared herself "a proud product of public education" and criticized Project 2025's plans to eliminate Head Start as well as the Department of Education.

When then-Senator Harris ran for president during the 2020 Democratic primary, she released a detailed "Children's Agenda" that offers clues as to how she might approach the same issues as President. Harris called for "significantly increasing" Title I funding for schools serving high percentages of students from low income families as well as increased funding for Head Start and Early Head Start. She also promised to provide incentives and funding to states to create more high-quality pre-K options for three- and four-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families.

In the Senate, Harris was a co-sponsor of the Child Care for Working Families Act (CCWFA) and many of its key components were part of her 2020 primary campaign. The CCWFA would significantly increase the amount of funds in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to allow states to help more people afford child care. No family earning less than 150 percent of their state's median income would pay more than seven percent of their income on child care under the bill. Additionally, child care would cost nothing for families earning less than 75 percent of their state's median income. The bill would also ensure that child care workers are paid at least a living wage and guarantee pay parity with elementary school teachers for workers with similar credentials and experience.

Harris has built up an impressive record on issues related to early childhood education in the years she has served as Vice President. She was a major proponent of the administration's Build Back Better Act which originally called for a historic $390 billion investment in child care and pre-K. If passed, the Act would have guaranteed pre-K access for three- and four-year-olds while substantially increasing investments in Head Start and limiting child care costs to no more than seven percent of income for families earning up to 250 percent of state median income.

In April 2023, President Biden signed an executive order that represents the most comprehensive set of executive actions any President has taken to improve the country's care infrastructure. Three months later, Vice President Harris announced new steps to lower the cost of child care by strengthening CCDBG. In February 2024, the administration announced a new rule that is estimated to lower child care costs for 100,000 families that receive federal child care assistance through CCDBG.

According to senior Democrats, the Biden administration's FY25 budget proposal would likely reflect the starting point for many of the priorities of a Harris administration. Like previous proposals, that proposal calls for a federal-state partnership to provide free pre-K for all four-year-olds. It also calls for a $500 million increase to CCDBG, a $544 million increase to help increase compensation for Head Start educators, and a plan to restore an expansion to the Child Tax Credit that was widely credited for helping to cut child poverty in half.

Of course, if elected, President Harris's legislative ambitions would ultimately hinge on which party controls the House and Senate and by what margins. That being said, a look at both the Vice President's recent campaign remarks as well as her past record reveal a lot to be encouraged about for advocates of expanded federal funding for early childhood education.

For more coverage of the 2024 election, check out New America's Education Policy Program's take onwhat's at stake in the 2024 election for issues ranging from early learning and K-12 federal education and oversight to private school choice and college affordability.