Public education is one of the most important investments America makes in its future. Strong schools do more than prepare students for college. They prepare young people to enter the workforce, build businesses, participate in their communities, manage their finances, and adapt to a rapidly changing economy.
Yet too many public schools struggle with outdated facilities, teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, limited career and technical programs, and unequal access to technology and advanced courses. Students can graduate after spending more than a decade in school without receiving enough practical preparation for employment, financial independence, or adulthood.
Invest in Teachers and the Classroom
Any serious education plan should begin with teachers. Schools cannot consistently deliver a high-quality education when they struggle to recruit and retain qualified educators.
As senator, I would support federal initiatives that help states and school districts recruit teachers in areas experiencing serious shortages. Federal policy can expand teacher preparation programs, strengthen partnerships between universities and school districts, support apprenticeships for future educators, and provide incentives for qualified teachers willing to work in high-need schools.
At the same time, more education dollars should reach classrooms. Teachers should have access to modern instructional materials, functioning technology, appropriate classroom supplies, and the support personnel necessary to do their jobs effectively.
Modernize America’s Aging Schools
A child’s ZIP code should not determine whether they attend a modern school or a deteriorating building.
Across the country, school districts face expensive repairs involving roofs, HVAC systems, plumbing, electrical systems, accessibility, security, and classroom technology. Congress can help states and local communities address these problems through infrastructure grants, financing programs, and targeted assistance for economically disadvantaged districts.
Modernization should also mean preparing schools for the future. Science laboratories, robotics facilities, computer labs, engineering spaces, libraries, athletic facilities, and career-training classrooms can transform a school into a center of opportunity for an entire community.
Bring Career and Technical Education Back to the Forefront
College should remain an important opportunity, but it should not be presented as the only respectable path to success.
High schools should provide students with greater exposure to skilled trades and technical careers, including electrical work, plumbing, HVAC, construction, welding, automotive technology, advanced manufacturing, health care, information technology, cybersecurity, and robotics.
As senator, I plan to support increased federal investment in career and technical education and encourage partnerships between high schools, community colleges, unions, apprenticeship programs, and local employers.
Students should have the opportunity to graduate with more than a diploma. Where possible, they should be able to leave high school with an industry-recognized credential, college credit, apprenticeship experience, or a clear pathway into additional training.
Teach Financial Literacy and Practical Life Skills
Education should prepare students for adulthood as well as examinations.
Students should understand how checking and savings accounts work, how credit scores are calculated, how interest compounds, how taxes affect their income, how insurance works, how to create a household budget, and how loans and credit cards can affect their financial futures.
Schools should also provide practical instruction in entrepreneurship, employment, contracts, digital safety, and basic consumer rights.
Federal education programs can encourage states to expand these subjects while allowing local educators to determine how they are incorporated into their curricula.
Prepare Students for Artificial Intelligence and Automation
The economy today’s students will enter will be significantly different from the one their parents entered. Artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, and advanced computing are already changing how people work.
Public education must change with it.
I would support federal funding that expands access to computer science, coding, robotics, engineering, AI literacy, and other emerging technologies—particularly in schools that otherwise could not afford these programs.
Students should learn not merely how to use technology, but how to understand it, question it, create with it, and use it responsibly.
Expand Mental Health and Student Support Services
Teachers cannot be expected to solve every problem facing a child.
Schools need counselors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, special-education professionals, and other qualified support personnel. Federal programs can help districts experiencing shortages recruit and retain these professionals.
The objective should be early intervention. When students are struggling academically, socially, or emotionally, schools should have the personnel necessary to identify problems and connect families with appropriate resources before those problems become crises.
Protect Special Education
Students with disabilities deserve a genuine opportunity to receive a quality education.
Congress has an important role in federal special-education policy and funding. A senator can advocate for stronger federal support for special education while demanding accountability for how those dollars are spent.
Schools also need enough qualified special-education teachers, paraprofessionals, therapists, and specialists to provide the services students are entitled to receive.
Make Schools Safer Without Turning Them Into Prisons
Students cannot learn effectively when they do not feel safe, but school security should be thoughtful and evidence-based.
Federal grants can help districts improve emergency communication systems, building security, crisis preparation, threat-assessment programs, and coordination with first responders. Prevention should be equally important. Counseling, intervention programs, anti-bullying initiatives, and systems for identifying serious threats can help schools address problems before violence occurs.
Safety and a welcoming educational environment should not be treated as competing goals. Schools need both.
Demand Accountability for Education Spending
More funding alone will not solve every problem.
When Washington provides education dollars, taxpayers deserve to know whether those programs are producing results. Federal programs should include transparent reporting requirements and meaningful measurements of performance.
Congress should regularly examine programs that are not working, eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens, and redirect resources toward initiatives that demonstrate measurable benefits for students.
Accountability should apply to government as much as it applies to schools.
Strengthen Public Schools While Respecting Local Communities
America is too large and diverse for every classroom to be managed from Washington.
Parents, teachers, school boards, states, and local communities should continue to make many of the decisions affecting their schools. The federal government’s role should concentrate on areas where national action can make a meaningful difference: protecting civil rights, supporting disadvantaged students, funding special education, strengthening the teacher workforce, expanding career education, improving infrastructure, and preparing students for the future economy.
A senator should listen to educators and parents rather than assuming Washington has every answer.
Education Should Be an Investment in America’s Future
Improving public education is not simply about spending more money. It is about spending intelligently and reconsidering what we expect schools to accomplish.
Our public schools should produce graduates who can read critically, communicate effectively, understand mathematics and science, use modern technology, manage their finances, participate in civic life, and pursue either higher education or a skilled career.
As senator, I would work across party lines to strengthen public education while respecting the role of states and local communities. I would fight for better classrooms, stronger career programs, modern technology, qualified teachers, safer schools, special-education resources, and greater accountability for taxpayer dollars.
America cannot build a stronger future without preparing the generation that will inherit it.
When we invest wisely in public education, we are investing in our workforce, our economy, our communities, and our country’s future.
