Schools brace for lessons on the Harris-Trump election, stressing neutrality for teachers

Schools across the country are taking a variety of approaches on how to handle the teaching opportunity presented by the upcoming presidential election, but there is one thing they all seem to agree on: educator neutrality.

Civics, government and history teachers must navigate a tumultuous, historic race as they guide classroom discussions around the showdown between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, taking into account such factors as the age of the students and how to handle personal feelings in the hyper-politicized environment.  

"We believe students shouldn't know the personal viewpoints of their teachers. Instead, our focus is on providing thoughtful questions, discussions, and readings that help students develop a comprehensive and balanced understanding of the election,” said Mike Martin, principal of Buckeye Central High School in Ohio.  

“Our goal is to foster an environment where students can critically engage with diverse perspectives without feeling influenced by the personal beliefs of their educators,” Martin added.  

This election has been filled with unprecedented events that will be a part of lesson plans for years to come, from the Trump assassination attempt to President Biden stepping down from the race and the vice president taking over four months before Election Day.  

Trump, the GOP's nominee for the third cycle in a row, is also the first current or former president to be convicted of a crime. And his shooting last month was the first serious attempted assassination of a current or former president in more than 40 years.

Meanwhile, Harris, who is set to formally accept her party's nomination this week in Chicago, is fighting to become America's first female president.

The opportunities for classroom discussion are endless, but so are the causes for concern, especially as schools have become a bigger focus in political fights over the past few years.

“I think it really depends on the district, the state, the location where you're at. It's going to be more controversial in some areas than others. I know there are teachers that have been essentially directed by their administration to not cover the elections,” said Jennifer Morgan, president of the National Council for the Social Studies. “Fortunately, I don't teach in a district like that, but I think there are a lot of teachers that are really nervous about teaching it, just because of the can of worms that it could open up and the arguments and things like that.” 

In other schools such as Martin’s in Ohio, teachers are supposed to speak to a school official before they bring up the election in class. 

“This helps to ensure that the content is relevant and handled in a way that respects the diversity of opinions within our school community,” Martin said, adding that multiple classes in his school could potentially be discussing the upcoming election.  

The Pew Research Center found last year that 65 percent of people feel exhausted and 55 percent feel angry when they think about politics.  

Educators are having to contend with various new policies including book bans, legislation against teaching “divisive concepts,” different policies on how to address transgender students and even teaching the Bible in classrooms.  

“We come from a low socio-economic community, and so our objective is mostly exposure for our kids," said Georgia Blas, teacher and curriculum coordinator at Ka’iulani Elementary School in Hawaii. "They honestly don't really know much about what's going on, so it's a lot of exposure for our students and since we're at the elementary level ... like, honestly, coming from a teacher perspective, I don't foresee any concerns, and we love to give our students the voice if they're knowledgeable about it. I think we would welcome it, because that gives them a voice, and that gives them a lot of background knowledge, which a lot of our students lack." 

Blas’s school participates in Kids Vote USA where “the kids actually get to experience firsthand the voting process. And they actually get to vote on who they feel would make a good president. And even locally, they get to vote on, like, who they feel is a good candidate [...] and they even get to see how the rest of the school or the rest of the states voted as well.” 

Whether it is at the high school or elementary school level, educators are aiming to stress neutrality and combat misinformation as the election nears.  

“I think it's really important if you're going to [talk about the election] make sure your classroom is a safe space for all students to express their opinions, which can be a challenge. You know, with the elections falling so close to the start of the year, you're just kind of developing that safe space with them,” Morgan said.