Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

Early Childhood Programs
I believe Congress should be fully funding Early Head Start and Head Start to eliminate the waiting lists for families in urban, suburban and rural America.

I support fully funding Preschool Development Grants to increase quality early learning for America's next generation, along with grants focusing on transportation barriers for rural and homeless children to increase access to early learning opportunities.

Quality Early Childhood Experiences
I support public policies to reduce ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores of children overall and ensure children with high ACE scores receive resilience building experiences via access and enrollment in early childhood learning and development programs. Children 0 to 5 with a screened ACE score above 2 should receive priority (subsidized, if necessary) enrollment.

Affordable Child Care
As a working mom this issue is understood by me through lived experience. My son is 4 and has been enrolled in YMCA early child care since he was 6 months old. I support state-federal partnerships to build a universally accessible pre-K system as part of early childhood education starting for children at 6 months. I support additional tax credits for working families to subsidize their share of cost of care. I support tax rebates for families that do not receive employer paid family leave for up to first 6 months of their child's development.

Child Care Workforce
I support a living wage for child care providers. I believe in federally funded incentive pay for essential childcare workers at regulated child care providers on a permanent basis. We should expand VISTA, AmeriCorps or similar federal programs to create opportunities for Segal Education or similar type awards for those committed to working in early childhood for an approved term.

Federally Funding Private Schools
I oppose using public money for private or religious schools. Public money should be used for accountable public schools as part of our obligation to fund education in accordance with the Wisconsin Constitution.

Effectiveness of Title IX
I support continuation of Title IX and believe that more could be done to build awareness of Title IX coordinators and train bystanders to eliminate any discriminatory or hostile education environments and build culture to prevent incidents of harassment.

Coronavirus Relief for States & Public Education
I support the SMART Act. I support relief funding to public schools to support safe working conditions for essential workers and students. I support the manufacturing and distribution of rapid coronavirus tests that do not require clinical lab processing, so asymptomatic carriers could use this knowledge to be heroes by staying home and saving lives.
Undocumented Students
Wisconsin's working age population is decreasing. Many DACA recipients are essential workers that keep our communities working during COVID. There should be a path to permanent residence or citizenship for people who grow Wisconsin's economy. We need improvements to our non-immigrant visa programs including: H-2A, for our agricultural community, H-2B temporary non-agricultural workers for our seasonal economy, and H1B to make healthcare workers and specialists available to rural communities. I support state, "place based" visas, so Wisconsin employers can find the employees they need.

Higher Education
I support the American Apprenticeship Act, a bill to provide funding to states for the creation or expansion of tuition assistance programs that benefit participants in pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs.

The American Apprenticeship Act would:

Authorize the Department of Labor to award competitive grants to states that have developed effective strategies to diversify, market, and scale Registered Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
Authorize states to utilize grant funds to assist participants in pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs in obtaining industry-relevant classroom instruction.
Require the Department of Labor to analyze the use of apprenticeships for in-demand occupations.
Recognize that states play a pivotal role in elevating and expanding Registered Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships as workforce solutions.

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