Vision: Kids and adults get a quality education that leads to fulfilling lives and family-supporting jobs.

When it comes to improving access and quality of education, I believe our educators, students, and families are our community’s experts on the issue, the most reliable resources to understand on the ground experiences, and the best advocates for what thriving schools can and should look like. Having taught in a high school for two years overseas and volunteered at the FAIR School in Downtown, I am grounded in how deeply meaningful and tough the job is. I know first hand that when our teachers are supported, they are better equipped to support our students. With our past record of having among  the largest racial inequities related to graduation rates in the nation, our State must play an active role in making sure our schools succeed because they are vital for our community, and  should be safe, easy to access, and supported in ways that allow our students and educators to feel fulfilled. 
We must:
  • Ensure our public schools are fully funded and fiscally sound.  Following decades of significant State level cuts and the emergence of market-based reform approaches, resources have been spread too thin. I will fight to fully fund our public schools. That means pushing for full funding from the State while also advocating for federal support, in addition to fully funding special education and English language learner programs. Also, no parent or guardian should learn mid school-year that a school will close due to bankruptcy. For our existing charter schools, our State must champion accountability with authorizers so our school district isn’t left to pick up the pieces and the bill, and families don’t have experience highly disruptive school years. I fully support a moratorium on new charters and would like to see further evaluation for these schools for their effectiveness, and, in particular, accountability loopholes.​

  • Retain and support our educators.  It’s time teachers and education support professionals are recognized for the vital role they play in our communities. With educators leaving their profession and schools being understaffed at alarming rates, this means providing competitive salaries, benefits packages, and support systems necessary to allow educators to stay passionate about their profession. I’ve heard from teachers that they need support for improving student behavior and want to explore ideas they’ve raised regarding better management of student cell phones and strategies that deter classroom disruptions. 
 
  • Protect the freedom to read and think.  That means protecting our libraries from extremist book bans that work to censor our nation’s history and harm to our communities by erasing LGBTQ+ representation. It also recognizes that an important step in achieving justice and equality in education includes all students seeing themselves represented in their curriculum as well as being exposed to different identities beyond their own.
 
  • Protect the well-being of our children.  With youth rates of depression and anxiety at all time highs, it is critical that we prioritize mental health. Schools should have the resources they need for their students to thrive socially and emotionally, including access to school counselors, social workers, and psychologists.
 
  • Make childcare and early childhood education in our State more accessible and affordable for working families.  A major barrier to childcare is the number of facilities and their ease of entering the market. Many community land use policies don’t allow childcare facilities everywhere that they are needed.  Furthermore, the paperwork and permits associated with opening a facility can be overly burdensome and costly.  I support a Statewide zoning initiative to allow childcare services in all residential areas and working with the Department of Human Services to better assist both in streamlining the permitting and paperwork process while also ensuring the safety and competence of the provider. 
 
  • Support children and parents.  We need a long-term child tax credit and universal Pre-K opportunities so that childcare service costs fall less on the individual or family. As a society, we want to invest in healthy children and families so that we can have a sustainable long term Minnesota with healthy, educated communities growing into the future.
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  • Maintain healthy and comfortable school buildings.  That means investing in climate-friendly heating, cooling, and ventilation systems and protecting students from toxins like lead and PFAS. This is a climate and environmental justice issue. Especially as our seasons shift and bring more extreme heat earlier in the year, we must make sure that our schools can stay open and be equipped to provide comfortable and safe learning environments for our students.