Create a World-Class Education System – Again

We must treat education as an investment in California’s people and future workforce. Every dollar we put towards making education more affordable is – at the very least – one dollar that returns to our economy. The path to addressing inequality and allowing every child to learn and thrive starts with investing in our public schools and tackling the long-standing structural racism and discrepancies in education funding.

Invest in Public Schools

My kids attend California public schools. From kindergarten to high school, I have seen the incredible dedication of our educators and education support professionals. Yet, with decades of governmental neglect and catering to corporate special interests that want to profit off education, we’ve allowed what should be temples of learning to become overcrowded and underfunded. To build the world’s best education system again, we must be willing to rethink and innovate how we fund our schools – because what we’ve been doing isn’t working. We also need to ensure public education funds go to public schools. The longer we ignore making meaningful investments in America’s public education systems, the more kids, parents, and teachers will be left behind as our education system falls further into disarray.

We can’t have a quality public education system without well-trained, well-supported educators and education support professionals (ESPs). Right now, educators and ESPs are leaving the workforce in droves because of low pay, unsecured retirements, and because many don’t feel respected and safe in schools. We need to raise educator and ESP pay, boost security in retirement for our education workforce, and stand up to how educators and ESPs are being drawn into culture wars.

Lower the Sticker Price of Higher Education and Cancel Student Debt

As a consumer advocate and former professor, I know how the high costs of college and mounting student loan debt are holding young people – and frankly, our entire economy – back. That’s why I started the first-ever College Affordability Caucus, a group of Congress members committed to lowering the sticker price of college. Hardworking families and young people should be able to afford to seek higher education without being saddled with decades of debt. That’s why I’m championing legislation to crack down on predatory, for-profit schools, provide tuition-free public college, and cancel student loan debt for millions of overburdened borrowers.