Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

A well-educated country yields endless rewards: a better workforce, a stronger economy, lower crime, and greater community engagement, just to name a few. It must be our goal to have the best public education system in the world, and I am proud to be a partner in those efforts.

We need an innovative approach to public education, one that focuses less on the process and more on the results. We must ensure American children are prepared for the increasingly competitive global economy and the challenges of the 21st century. I support freeing local schools from the unnecessary red tape and regulation that often accompanies federal funding.

We must strengthen our commitment to K-12 public education; I support increased funding for local schools and more efficient methods of sending federal dollars to local classrooms, so that the children who need the extra boost of federal funding receive it.

Higher education is just as important to the success of our nation. I am proud of the long tradition of first-rate higher education offered to Washingtonians, from the University of Washington, to Renton Technical College. We need to ensure that students have access to higher education, including financial aid through student loans and grants, and enough slots at public schools to accommodate their pursuits. While it is imperative that we continue to offer students financial aid and other resources to be able to pay for higher education in the short-term, my ultimate goal is College for All, so that working and middle-class families do not have to struggle to afford to send their child to college. This goal is achievable and sensible, and something that I continue to fight for in Congress.

Adam's work on Education:
Co-sponsored H.R. 1880, the College for All Act of 2017.
Strongly supported the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which changed the disastrous policies of No Child Left Behind, to help more accurately reflect learning and performance.
Voted for legislation to increase student loans for college and to create the HOPE (Helping Others Pursue Education) Scholarship, which provided a $1,500 per year tax credit for each child enrolled in college.
Authored the Empowering Local Schools Act, which increased federal financial assistance to local schools with high numbers of children from low-income families.
Supported anti-bullying legislation and fought for language within the ESSA that guaranteed protection against bullying based on a child's sexual identity, ethnicity, religion, sex, age, or ability.
Supported lowering interest rates on students loans to increase access to higher education.
Supported education savings accounts, which allow families to save money for their children's college education tax-free.
Voted to expand training benefits for laid-off workers, and authored the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act to improve the retraining resources available to laid-off workers returning to school.

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