page_title: Political positions of Kamala Harris
section_title: Education
hierarchical_section_title: Political positions of Kamala Harris / Social issues / Education
caption_attribution_description: English: Malala Yousafzai with Kamala Harris
context_page_description: The political positions of Kamala Harris are reflected by her United States Senate voting record, public speeches, and interviews. Kamala Harris has served as the junior senator from California since 2017. On August 11, 2020, Harris was selected by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to be his running mate in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
context_section_description: Harris has argued for treating "habitual and chronic truancy" among children in elementary school as a crime committed by the parents of truant children. She argues that there is a direct connection between habitual truancy in elementary school and crime later in life. She has received the endorsement of the California Federation of Teachers.
  Harris supports busing for desegregation of public schools, saying that "the schools of America are as segregated, if not more segregated, today than when I was in elementary school." Harris views busing as an option to be considered by school districts, rather than the responsibility of the federal government.
  Harris supports the creation of a government funding program to pay tuition and fees for students attending public colleges and universities for dependent students whose parents have income of $125,000 or less and independent students with incomes of $125,000 or less. The program would be funded by a fee on Wall Street firms of 0.5 percent per stock trade. Regarding student loans, Kamala Harris proposed having up to $20,000 in student debt forgiven for Pell Grant recipients who start a business and operate it for at least three years in a disadvantaged community. Eligible students would also have loans deferred interest free for a business formation period of up to three years.
caption: Harris and Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education and Nobel Prize laureate.
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