As news is circulating about the 2024 presidential candidates, the policies that impact students shouldn’t be ignored. It is important to recognize the fluctuating changes in our political system, whether it creates immense divides, or nuanced impacts. Phillip II from Macedon made this saying for Julius Caesar, who sought guidance to justify his rule, ‘divided we conquer.’ As such this article will discuss the political divides and how it impacts students.

To start with, Travis Monroe, who teaches U.S. government and politics at Gallatin High School provides a guideline to how we can look into Trump and Harris’s agendas for the education system. Beginning with Trump, he mentioned in an interview with FOX News that he wanted to shut the Department of Education down, with an emphasis on school choice. Monroe informs, “your parents get money and they can choose where to spend that money. . . It can be with a public school or it can go to a private school, religious or not.” On the other hand, Harris opposes Trump’s policies by continuing with the status quo. Thus, it is evident that the two nominees have different opinions and outlooks on the future of education.

Next, students also incorporated their thoughts on how the presidential race is impacting them. Cooper Jones, junior, states, “We don’t have any good options. . . I’m going to be negatively impacted either way. I keep getting bothered with ads.” In fact, part of the nation agrees with Jones, who feels as if they're not being heard and they are negatively impacted by both presidential candidates. Meanwhile, senior Olivia Lewis furthers on the advertisements’ statements, “I’ve been getting a lot of it [ads]. But it’s kind of interesting hearing about their politics.” 

Looking into Montana candidates, a large emphasis is placed on school funding. The District competition in Bozeman, Montana is House District 31 and 32, both which have local input over education in the state. Meanwhile, the governors who were in the running were Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Ryan Busse, who both tout major involvement in supporting teachers. Monroe inputs, “in past legislative sessions, they [Gianforte] have tried to increase salaries for starting teachers as Montana was ranked last in that category, so they were successful in increasing that.” However, the candidates who showed up in the advertisements this year were Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy. Looking into Tester, he has previously funded thousands of dollars to each county through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which would provide people with money to have higher quality education, more directly to the rural schools. Meanwhile, Tim Sheehy is aiming to remove the Department of Education in agreement with Trump, proving that both candidates have different visions for students.

There are many differences between all the political candidates, but at the date of publication, everyone will already know the results of this election. People are being impacted by all of these decisions every day, thus it is important to recognize that being vocal creates a foundation for enhancing government power. Thus, we will still be mindful of what we advocate for.