Kamala Harris Plan Would Boost HBCU Funding

Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat and 2020 presidential contender, said on Tuesday that she would include new funding for historically black colleges as part of a plan to boost the salaries of American teachers by an average of $13,500.

As part of support for new recruitment and training of instructors, the Harris plan would direct new money to HBCUs and minority-serving institutions to address an underrepresentation of teachers of color.

The proposal, which was released on the Harris campaign's website, did not specify how much funding would go toward those colleges. The total cost of the teacher pay plan would be roughly $315 billion over 10 years, the campaign said.

Harris said at a campaign event over the weekend that the proposal would address a gap of 11 percent between pay for teachers and other college-educated professionals.