Education & Opportunity

1. Early Education & Robust Curriculum

We know a child's prime development years are between 3 and 7, but by the time they start kindergarten they are over halfway through these years. I'll support the state's goal that makes pre-school accessible to all families. This will not only lead to a head start on learning, but will reduce costs on new parents, which could lead to a rise in childbirths. It will also help parents return to the workforce sooner, while also incentivizing entrepreneurship -- feeding directly into the priorities outlined in the Supporting Businesses & Workers policies. 

We also know our K-12 kids are falling behind in many core subjects, while many topics aren't required by the State despite a changing world. This requires us to fit in more material without massive cuts to core subjects or cuts to the importance of diverse experiences through electives. The only way we can possibly cover it all while maintaining current standards is if the state requires cross-curriculum, such as using physics to assist in teaching math, or receiving a refresher on 7th grade Ancient World History topics while practicing reading comprehension and writing skills in a 10th grade English class, while taking Word History in high school social studies. 

3. Lowering Costs

While the federal government is tasked with student loans, our state government can take action to reign in tuition costs at public colleges and universities. While a well-funded institution is vital to high-quality education, I will advocate for legislation to cap yearly tuition raises, while also ensuring new rates only apply to incoming class years, as a tuition rate that increases every year means a student could find themselves partway through a degree that is now too expensive to finish. They should be able to count on the tuition they agreed to when they started. Meanwhile, sharing a small room with another student while also sharing a bathroom with three others shouldn't cost the same as a full apartment shared with one other person with private bedrooms. Therefore, I'll work to ensure the cost per square foot of the dorm room doesn't exceed the local market rate, divided by the number of students in the room. 

As someone who has worked for two of the largest college bookstore companies, I also know firsthand the profit margins on college textbooks are exorbitant. We must unify the public institutions in the state to use their collective power to pressure the publishing companies to lower the cost of textbooks. 

While not everyone goes to college, the entire state benefits from an educated workforce. Therefore, those who put in the work to gain these qualifications often do so while pulling out massive amounts of debt. Although some may view this as a choice, it's a decision we need people to make in order to maintain a robust economy. Those who make that choice are burdened with high debt, limiting their ability to fully participate in our economy -- from buying a house, to starting and growing a family. While we should push the federal government to drop interest rates and find a resolution for the student debt crisis, we as a state need to ensure extremely high costs don't continue moving forward.