Education is the most powerful tool we have to empower a generation and strengthen our democracy, which is exactly why it has become a political target. For years, powerful interests have worked to weaken public education, siphon taxpayer dollars into private hands, and undermine institutions that teach critical thinking and civic engagement. From efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, to diverting public funds into unaccountable charter systems, to attacking universities and intimidating educators, the assault on public education is intentional—and deeply tied to profiteering and ideological control. Our schools should never be on the chopping block, even when budgets are tight. Now is the time to strengthen public education at every level and make it affordable and accessible to all.

 

Public dollars belong in public schools. Taxpayer money should be used to fully fund and improve the public education system that serves the vast majority of students—not siphoned away through so-called “school choice” schemes that too often function as pipelines for fraud, mismanagement, discrimination, and private enrichment. These programs weaken local school districts while shielding operators from transparency and accountability. We must also end our reliance on local property taxes to fund education. That system is outdated, inequitable, and rooted in segregation, guaranteeing unequal outcomes based on race and ZIP code. Education funding should be a shared state and federal responsibility so every child receives a high-quality education regardless of where they live—not based on how wealthy their neighborhood happens to be.

 

Early investment matters, and it is one of the clearest examples of where ideology and austerity have overridden evidence. I support free universal pre-K nationwide and evidence-based early literacy and learning supports because the data is overwhelming: children who attend preschool are more likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school and college. Universal pre-K is not just good education policy—it is a cost-effective investment in children, families, and the long-term strength of our economy.

 

Our schools must also be safe, healthy, and fully staffed to meet students’ real needs. Too often, deferred maintenance and underfunding create unsafe learning environments while money flows elsewhere. I support investing in modern school buildings, addressing lead and environmental hazards, improving ventilation and HVAC systems, and expanding access to counselors, nurses, social workers, and special education services. Education does not happen in a vacuum, and schools cannot succeed when students’ basic health and learning needs are ignored in favor of budgetary shortcuts.

 

Teachers are the backbone of our education system, yet they are routinely underpaid, overworked, and politically targeted. I support significantly raising teacher pay, including establishing a federal minimum salary of at least $60,000 for public school teachers. Just as important, teachers and school staff deserve protection. In recent years, educators have faced harassment, doxing, threats, and even violence fueled by manufactured culture wars and political intimidation. Threats and violence against school employees should carry serious legal consequences. Classrooms should be places of learning, not battlegrounds for ideology or intimidation.

 

Education must also be affordable beyond high school. I support the College for All Act to make public colleges and trade schools tuition-free and support targeted student debt relief that strengthens the economy, eases the burden on borrowers, and expands opportunity. Crushing student debt has become a quiet form of economic extraction that delays homeownership, family formation, and small business creation. Education should open doors—not trap people in decades of debt.

 

Finally, we must defend universities as vital centers of innovation, free inquiry, and civic engagement. Political interference, funding threats, and attacks on students’ civil rights and free speech undermine the very purpose of higher education. Universities thrive on intellectual freedom, not ideological loyalty tests. If we allow corruption, censorship, or political retaliation to hollow out these institutions, we risk losing entire generations of thinkers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and leaders.

 

Public education is not a budget line item or a profit opportunity—it is a public trust. Protecting it means standing up to privatization schemes, ideological interference, and corruption that put power and profit ahead of students. I will always fight to protect and expand public education because investing in knowledge, fairness, and opportunity is how we build a stronger democracy and a more honest economy.