Issue Position: Education - Pre-K to College

Issue Position

Every American deserves the opportunity to have a quality and affordable education. Our commitment to education must begin at birth and continue throughout life with access to higher education and job re-training. Recent years have witnessed devastating cuts by the Congress in our investment in education. We must have a real commitment to education; our nation's young people are 25 percent of our population but they are 100 percent of our future.

For me, education from the time a child is born through graduation is a top priority. Early childhood education and experiences are critical to give every young person a foundation for life. We must provide the opportunity for Pre-K education for all children. We must fund K-12 public education in ways that that offer the rigorous coursework necessary to prepare students to pursue higher education. Our education commitment must include retraining for older workers who want to continue work but who need new skills for jobs in the 21st century. We need to encourage young people to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics education (STEM), which will support U.S. competitiveness and future economic prosperity.

As the chair of the Wayne State University Board of Governors I've seen the positive transformation that comes from a quality education, but I've also seen that the opportunity to attain an education is out of reach for many families because of its high cost. I voted against recent tuition hikes at Wayne State because the cost of a college education has risen too much and too fast.

Since the financial crisis the big banks have been able to borrow money at incredibly low interest rates. Yet despite recent progress, students are still paying higher rates. This isn't fair and it's why I support Senator Elizabeth Warren's plan to level the playing field. I will work to reduce student loan interest rates, including efforts to allow people with older student loans to refinance them at today's rates, increase funding for our schools, and expand opportunities for job re-training. These efforts will both help reduce the cost of college and help stimulate the economy."

As your Congresswoman, I will work closely with our nation's education professionals to ensure that they have a seat at the table in developing comprehensive polices to prepare students for the future.

Source