EDUCATION

High-quality public education not only provides a foundation for both academic achievement and good citizenship, it also drives prosperity. I believe it is the state and national governments’ responsibility to ensure that every child can receive the high-quality public education that will allow them to lead meaningful lives, no matter their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability status, language status, immigration or citizenship status, household income, zip code, or any other differentiating factor.

Toward this end, I believe we are obligated to address the economic and racial funding gaps that have negatively impacted students for too long. We must continue to close the existing opportunity gap by creating a funding system that works for every student, as well as making universal pre-kindergarten available to all.

Our students continue to recover from the extraordinary challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is our responsibility to support not just their academic learning, but their social-emotional learning as well. As studies have shown, our students are currently facing mental and behavioral health issues. We understand that unaddressed mental health issues are an obstacle to learning, and continued support for school-based mental and behavioral health staff for both preventive and emergency care is essential.

I support the professional experience of educators and educational practices that include, among other things, teaching critical thinking skills, using developmentally and age-appropriate materials, teaching historically accurate information, and teaching in a culturally and racially responsive environment.

Recognizing that Connecticut’s businesses and industries provide economic opportunity and require a trained workforce, I am committed to continuing to grow our technical school education system to train residents for good-paying jobs and meet the needs of the industries that call Connecticut home. To do this, we must look at not just the programs needed to provide the most highly trained workforce, but the recruitment of women, people of color, and others who have traditionally been excluded from these good paying, benefit-rich occupations.

Building on the Pledge to Advance CT, I will work toward the ultimate goal of making community colleges and trade schools accessible and tuition free for all, as well as ensuring that students at these and other public higher education institutions can emerge with degrees in hand and unencumbered by a lifetime of debt. I support the goal of making our institutions of higher education models of the nation in teaching, research, and service; institutions that are always working to meet the needs of our rapidly-changing society.

I salute the educators, administrators, and all school employees of our state, whose dedication and skills represent the essential elements of educational excellence. I pledge to work collaboratively with teachers, school administrators, parents, and others in developing measures to continuously strengthen public education in every community in the state. I support recruitment and retention of diverse administrators and teachers to provide a diversity of perspectives.