Education

K-12 Education:

Education can be a pathway out of poverty, but how we fund education in the U.S. keeps this from being true. We know that a child getting a Preschool and Pre-K education can have a huge impact on a child’s future in education, yet it is not free for all children like K-12 education is. This keeps many Americans, who are disproportionately poor and people of color, from getting important education for their children. That is why I support universal Preschool and Pre-K. There is no reason to treat Preschool and Pre-K differently from K-12 education; they are all just as important which is why Preschool and Pre-K should be free for all.

Our K-12 system is also in need of changes. We must increase funding and start funding schools based on need, not based on the amount of money a zip code has. Our current education system discriminates against poor students and students of color, keeping their schools from getting the proper amount of money needed to buy supplies, laptops, fund the arts & sports, and pay & hire teachers, nurses, and counselors. This means that schools that are performing well receive significantly more funding than those that require additional teachers to reduce class sizes, fund extracurricular activities, acquire resources for students with special needs, and more. This lack of funding harms students' ability to get a quality education and can lead to teachers burning out, making things even worse for educators, students, and the community.

College for All & Student Debt:

We also shouldn’t treat college differently from K-12 education. I also support making Colleges and Trade Schools tuition-free because higher education can also be a pathway out of poverty and produces important jobs we need in our society like Teachers, Nurses, Plumbers, Electricians, and others. We shouldn’t be leaving young people in crippling debt, which is bad for them and our economy. That is why I support canceling all student loan debt that is preventing young people from buying homes, starting families, and living comfortable lives.

An educated population is important for the future of our society and should be supported by the federal government. Short of College for All, the least we should do is offer zero or close to zero interest federal loans. I also support counting past interest payments on student loan debt to go toward a one-time tax credit. Unfortunately, our elected officials are not painting a picture of what our country, which is the richest in the history of the world, can be. We should be encouraging people to seek knowledge, not punishing them for pursuing what they have been told is the main pathway to a middle class life. 

Academic Freedom & Scientific Funding:

Through DOGE cuts and other actions of the Trump administration, we have seen an attack on the important work that universities do all over the nation. Much of that work is through the sciences, where professors and their students do important research that is funded mostly through public money. That research includes medical research, environmental research, agricultural research, and many more. This research is crucial for creating advancements for Americans that keep us happier, healthier, and smarter. These cuts threaten to stop all of this and have us fall behind Europe and China as they continue to increase their funding for research. And it's not just funding cuts but also the Administration's attacks on academic freedom that harms American research. This Administration is removing independence from scientific research. By doing this, they will make people question the legitimacy of the research being done. People will question whether the research of Universities is actually based on facts or instead biased work that the administration wants to hear to push their agenda.

This is why we must pass legislation that keeps academic research independent and must go further than just restoring the amount of money that goes into research. We must greatly increase the amount of money that universities get for research, it should be so much that they have enough money for years. The government has provided ICE (which should not exist) with years' worth of funding in one funding bill that will last ICE until 2029. There is no reason we can’t do the same for something that actually matters. If it weren’t for public funding for scientific research, we wouldn’t have many medicines and technologies that we have today. By cutting funding of research and refusing to increase it, we are preventing ourselves from gaining all new kinds of medicines and technologies that could improve and save lives.