Issue Position: Education and Better Opportunities for Everyone

Issue Position

When Jimmy takes his children to school, he gets that chill -- that sense of déjà vu that comes from sending your children to the same school you attended. He knows that there is no greater gift a parent can give to a child than a first-rate education. In Congress, Jimmy will fight to make sure all of our children get the same opportunity to thrive. Late last year, Congress finally scrapped the No Child Left Behind policy that burdened our schools with federal regulations but provided no funding to make our schools better. Jimmy is committed to making sure the Every School Succeeds Act (ESSA) achieves its goals of providing opportunity to every child, reducing the overreliance on standardized testing, and bringing educators into the decision-making process. He will also fight to fund Head Start -- which since its inception in 1965 -- has given over 32 million low-income children educational, nutritional and health opportunities. For those interested in college, Jimmy is committed to making higher education both accessible and affordable. Before graduating from U.C. Davis, Jimmy attended Monterey Peninsula Community College (MPC). He knows firsthand the impact our community colleges can make by giving students the academic foundation, job training and skills for a path to success. That appreciation led Jimmy to give back to MPC through his work as the chair of the MPC Citizens Bond Oversight Committee. Jimmy also serves as a Trustee on the Foundation for the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he helped ensure that high school students from Salinas were exposed to and, ultimately, attended that world-class university. As a board member of the National Steinbeck Center (NSC), Jimmy worked on the deal for California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to purchase the NSC building in order to help that amazing university reach the students of the Salinas Valley. In Congress, Jimmy is committed to making college loans more affordable and finding innovative ways to help students reduce their debt. He will also focus on expanding pre-K and early education options for families and improving the Migrant Education Program to help immigrant children meet the challenges of enrolling in American schools. Jimmy's goal is to establish national service programs that provide educational benefits to those willing to serve the nation.

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