World-Class Education

America’s greatest resource is the brain of every child. The way to guarantee a thriving society 10 years from now, is to do everything we can to help every 10-year-old thrive today. Children are the biggest collateral damage in an amoral economic system. We are not old enough to vote so we do not form a constituency. We are not old enough to work so we have no financial power. We need a massive transfer of resources in the direction of the next generation.

50 years ago, there was no better place than America to have a big dream. Obtaining a high school degree meant that every single American had a fair shot at getting a good job, raising a family, buying a house, and sending their kids to school – all on one income. As the wealthiest nation on Earth, it is disgraceful that American schools have seen a devastating decline. Infrastructure is crumbling, veteran teachers are leaving en masse, schools are overcrowded, curriculums and technology are out of date, and academic achievement has fallen drastically – placing an unimpressive 35th out of 71 countries in math and science achievement. Gen-Z are the leaders of tomorrow, and we have an obligation to our democracy and our economic future to reclaim our title as a global intellectual superpower.

If we want to prepare America’s generation for a highly competitive world, we ought to get serious about investing in our future. We must fight for accessible and quality public education for all American children and affordable college education for all who want it. We must ensure that every public school is a palace of learning, culture, and modern infrastructure; and truly guarantee that no child is left behind academically, socially, or economically. Together, it’s time that we reduce child poverty and increase child opportunity for America’s next generation.

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Student Debt Relief

Over the last few decades, student-loan debt has exploded. Loans for education recently skyrocketed past $1.6 trillion. In 2023, there will be over 43 million student-loan borrowers, with the average borrower owing $37,574. The need for student-loan debt reform in America has become increasingly urgent, as the burden of student-loan debt continues to grow and limit the financial futures of millions. Canceling student-loan debt would provide ease-of-mind for borrowers struggling to make payments and simultaneously stimulate the economy by boosting consumer spending such as buying a home or starting a family. Together, we can provide a path to economic stability for millions of Americans and take a critical step towards building a better, brighter America. We must:

Support the Biden-Harris Administration’s Student Debt Relief plan.
Cap student-loan interest rates.
Expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Allow all borrowers to refinance loans to lower interest rates.
Crack down on predatory schools, lenders, and bill collectors.

Universal School Meals

Today, twelve million children are hungry in America – there should not be even one. Students with school lunch debt are forced to go on welfare and not only face the struggle of economic disparity and social stigma – but also the ire of debt collectors who may deny their ability to graduate. It is not a radical idea to protect the well-being of all our children and ensure no child goes hungry. Just as the State of Minnesota did in March of 2023, we as a nation must follow suit and provide year-round, quality, healthy, delicious, and free universal breakfast and lunch school meals to all.

Access to Affordable College

While many support student debt relief as easing the economic burden of college education – these proposals are merely a band-aid solution on a more elemental problem: college affordability. Making higher education more affordable is urgent and undeniable. Decades ago, Baby Boomers could hold down a summer job and pay for most, if not all of their college tuition. Today, students would be lucky if they could afford the cost of their textbooks. With tuition increasing surging as much as 440% over the last 25 years, higher education has now been relegated to a privilege for the few rather than an opportunity available for all. Every year, hundreds of thousands of students opt against getting a higher education for one reason: their family lacks the income. Income should not be a barrier to opportunity – it is unfair to those families, and it is unfair to the future of our country. We must:

Make public colleges, universities, HBCUs, minority-serving institutions, and trade schools affordable for all.
Provide tuition-free community college for all & tuition-free workforce training courses at community colleges.
Increase investments in Pell Grants.
Allow community college and trade school class credits to be more easily transferable to universities.
Guarantee access to mental health professionals on campus.
Expand access to work-study programs.
Increase funding for the TRIO and GEAR UP program.
Create more opportunities for higher education and for students who seek education in trades or technical fields.
Provide college students who may be parents the support they need and the resources they deserve.
End food-insecurity on college campuses.

A New Era in Education

America used to lead the world in the percentage of young people with college degrees. Today, we are #11 behind countries like South Korea, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom. And over the last decade, local legislatures have waged unnecessary culture wars attempting to ban books rather than ban school hunger. Extremist state supermajorities have also made radical spending cuts to critical public services like public education, all while padding corporate monopolies with billions in corporate welfare subsidies at the expense of our nation falling further and further behind in academic achievement and educational prowess. Instead of putting America first in military spending or incarceration, it’s time to once again – make America first in offering a world-class education. We must:

Establish universal childcare & pre-K for all.
Fully fund public schools, and make every school a palace of learning, culture, and modern infrastructure.
Increase the salary of public school teachers.
Achieve equitable funding for public schools by rethinking the link between property taxes, standardized testing, and school budgets.
Reevaluate school start and end times.
Give every student an opportunity to learn computer science.
Eliminate vouchers for private schools.
Revitalize rural schools.
Pass curriculum reform: de-emphasize standardized testing, prioritize critical thinking, life skills, and job preparation, mandatory personal finance and civics classes, implement study skills courses, & expand innovative education programs like Early College.
Cancel all existing student lunch debt.