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Provide Quality and Affordable Education
Democrats know that every child, no matter who they are, how much their families earn, or
where they live, should have access to a high-quality education, from preschool through high
school and beyond. But the United States still lags behind other advanced economies in
providing high-quality, universal preschool programs to help all of our kids get a strong start to
their educations. Our schools are more segregated today than they were when Brown v. Board of
Education was decided, and we see wide disparities in educational outcomes across racial and
socioeconomic lines. A college degree or another form of post-secondary education is
increasingly required for jobs that pay a middle-class wage, but graduation rates have stagnated
for low-income students. And the high cost of college has required too many Americans to take
out staggering student loans or put a degree out of reach entirely. We are selling our children and
our young people short. Democrats are committed to making good public schools available to
every child, no matter what zip code they live in, and at last making debt-free college a reality
for all Americans.
Making Debt-Free College a Reality
Democrats believe that in America, if you want a higher education, you should always be able to
get one: money should never stand in the way. Cost should not be a barrier to getting a degree or
credential, and debt should not hold you back after you graduate. Bold new investments by the
federal government, coupled with states reinvesting in higher education and colleges holding the
line on costs, will ensure that Americans of all backgrounds will be prepared for the jobs and
economy of the future. Democrats are unified in their strong belief that every student should be
able to go to college debt-free, and working families should not have to pay any tuition to go to
public colleges and universities.
We will also make community college free, while ensuring the strength of our Historically Black
Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions. The federal government will push
more colleges and universities to take quantifiable, affirmative steps in increasing the
percentages of racial and ethnic minority, low-income, and first-generation students they enroll
and graduate. Achieving these goals depends on state and federal investment in both students and
their teachers. Whether full-time or adjunct, faculty must be supported to make transformative
educational experiences possible.
Providing Relief from Crushing Student Debt
As we make college affordable for future students, we will not forget about the millions of
borrowers with unsustainable levels of student debt, who need help right now. Democrats will
allow those who currently have student debt to refinance their loans at the lowest rates possible.
We will simplify and expand access to income-based repayment so that no student loan
borrowers ever have to pay more than they can afford. And we will significantly cut interest rates
for future undergraduates because we believe that making college more affordable is more
important than the federal government making billions of dollars in profit off those loans.
Democrats will also fight for a student borrower bill of rights to ensure borrowers get adequate
information about options to avoid or get out of delinquency or default. We will hold lenders and
loan servicers to high standards to help borrowers in default rehabilitate and repay their debts.
We will continue the important Public Service Loan Forgiveness and loan discharge programs
begun by the Obama Administration. Finally, Democrats will restore the prior standard in
bankruptcy law to allow borrowers with student loans to be able to discharge their debts in
bankruptcy as a measure of last resort. To make progress toward these goals, the government
should offer a moratorium on student loan payments to all federal loan borrowers so they have
the time and get the resources they need to consolidate their loans, enroll in income-based
repayment programs, and take advantage of opportunities to reduce monthly payments and fees.
Supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions
We will strengthen our nation’s public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
Predominantly Black Institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native
American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native
and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, and
minority-serving institutions. Many of these schools educate disproportionate percentages of
growing populations of Americans: students who are racial and ethnic minorities, low-income
students, and first-generation students. As the nation is grappling with how to expand
educational access and increase success, especially for communities of color and low-income
students and families, there is evidence that the nation’s HBCUs and Minority Serving
Institutions have honed promising models for educating these students to prepare them for high-and
critical-need positions while containing costs. We will create a robust and historic dedicated
fund to keep costs down, provide quality education, and ensure dedicated support to improve
student outcomes and completion rates. We will provide further assistance to students at these
schools, as well as other students across the country, by restoring year-round Pell funding so that
low- and middle-income students from all backgrounds can get the support they need to make
progress toward a college degree throughout the year.
Cracking Down on Predatory For-Profit Schools
We will continue to crack down on for-profit schools that take millions in federal financial aid—
often as their principal source of revenue—and then exploit students and burden them with debt
rather than educating them. That is why we will strengthen the gainful employment rule to
ensure that for-profit schools enable students to complete their degrees and prepare them for
work. We will go after for-profits that engage in deceptive marketing, fraud, and other illegal
practices. We will also exercise our responsibility in oversight over the Department of Education
to carry out their obligation to close down those for-profit schools that consistently engage in
fraudulent and illegal conduct. It is unacceptable that for-profit schools with low graduation rates
keep encouraging their students to take out federal loans they will have trouble paying back.
Therefore, to the maximum extent possible, we will also encourage widespread relief and the
forgiveness of debt to those students harmed by the practices of fraudulent institutions.
Guaranteeing Universal Preschool and Good Schools for Every Child
Democrats believe we must have the best-educated population and workforce in the world. That
means making early childhood education and universal preschool a priority, especially in light of
new research showing how much early learning can impact life-long success. Democrats will
invest in early childhood programs like Early Head Start and provide every family in America
with access to high-quality childcare and high-quality preschool programs. We support efforts to
raise wages for childcare workers, and to ensure that early childhood educators are experienced
and high-quality.
We will ensure there are great schools for every child no matter where they live. Democrats
know the federal government must play a critical role in making sure every child has access to a
world-class education. We believe that a strong public education system is an anchor of our
democracy, a propeller of the economy, and the vehicle through which we help all children
achieve their dreams. Public education must engage students to be critical thinkers and civic
participants while addressing the wellbeing of the whole child.
We also support increased investments in afterschool and summer learning programs, which help
working families, keep kids safe, and inspire learning at a time when many students are left
unsupervised. We must find ways to encourage mentoring programs that support students in
reaching their full potential. Mentoring is a strategy to ensure that children living in poverty have
the encouragement and support to aim high and enter the middle class. We will focus on group
mentoring, which is a low-cost, high-yield investment that offers the benefit of building a
supportive network of peers who push one another towards success.
Democrats believe all students should be taught to high academic standards. Schools should have
adequate resources to provide programs and support to help meet the needs of every child. We
will hold schools, districts, communities, and states accountable for raising achievement levels
for all students—particularly low-income students, students of color, English Language
Learners, and students with disabilities.
We must fulfill our national commitment to provide a meaningful education to students with
disabilities, and work towards full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act so
that students with disabilities can receive the extra resources and services they need. With an appropriate educational foundation, children with disabilities can thrive and become adults with
greater opportunities and more meaningful life experiences.
We are also deeply committed to ensuring that we strike a better balance on testing so that it
informs, but does not drive, instruction. To that end, we encourage states to develop a multiple
measures approach to assessment, and we believe that standardized tests must be reliable and
valid. We oppose high-stakes standardized tests that falsely and unfairly label students of color,
students with disabilities and English Language Learners as failing; the use of standardized test
scores as basis for refusing to fund schools or to close schools; and the use of student test scores
in teacher and principal evaluations, a practice which has been repeatedly rejected by
researchers. We support enabling parents to opt their children out of standardized tests without
penalty for either the student or their school.
Democrats recognize and honor all the professionals who work in public schools to support
students' education—teachers, education support professionals, and specialized staff. We know
that good teachers are essential to improving student learning and helping all students to meet
high academic standards. Democrats will launch a national campaign to recruit and retain high-quality
teachers. We will ensure that teachers receive the tools and ongoing professional
development they need to succeed in the classroom and provide our children with a world-class
education. We also must lift up and trust our educators, continually build their capacity, and
ensure that our schools are safe, welcoming, collaborative, and well-resourced places for our
students, educators, and communities.
We will invest in high-quality STEAM classes, community schools, computer science education,
arts education, and expand link learning models and career pathways. We will end the school-to-prison
pipeline by opposing discipline policies which disproportionately affect African
Americans and Latinos, Native Americans and Alaska Natives, students with disabilities, and
youth who identify as LGBT. We will support the use of restorative justice practices that help
students and staff resolve conflicts peacefully and respectfully while helping to improve the
teaching and learning environment. And we will work to improve school culture and combat
bullying of all kinds.
The Democratic Party is committed to eliminating opportunity gaps—particularly those that lead
to students from low-income communities arriving on day one of kindergarten several years
behind their peers. This means advocating for labor and public assistance laws that ensure poor
parents can spend time with their children. This means raising household incomes in poor
communities. It means ensuring children have health care, stable housing free of contaminants,
and a community free of violence in order to minimize the likelihood of cognitive delays. It
means enriching early childhood programming to prepare children in areas such as literacy,
numeracy, civic engagement, and emotional intelligence. It means supporting equitable and
adequate state funding for public education, and expanding Title I funding for schools that serve
a large number or high concentration of children in poverty. It means ending curriculum gaps
that maintain and exacerbate achievement gaps.
We support policies that motivate rather than demoralize our educators. We are committed to
ensuring that schools that educate children in poverty are not treated unfairly, which is why we will end the test-and-punish version of accountability that does no more than reveal the many
opportunity gaps facing students from low-income communities.
Democrats are committed to providing parents with high-quality public school options and
expanding these options for low-income youth. We support democratically governed, great
neighborhood public schools and high-quality public charter schools, and we will help them
disseminate best practices to other school leaders and educators. Democrats oppose for-profit
charter schools focused on making a profit off of public resources. We believe that high-quality
public charter schools should provide options for parents, but should not replace or destabilize
traditional public schools. Charter schools must reflect their communities, and thus must accept
and retain proportionate numbers of students of color, students with disabilities and English
Language Learners in relation to their neighborhood public schools. We support increased
transparency and accountability for all charter schools. [5][6]
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Kaine on education
