Supporting the Arts Community

As someone who grew up knowing intimately the value and effect of art on the development of life skills, I especially believe that a vibrant arts community is essential to our culture, education, and economy. As your representative, I will champion federal policies that support the development and growth of the arts, including:

  • Tax Incentives for Arts Support: Expand federal tax credits for individuals and businesses that donate to arts organizations and local artists, encouraging more private investment in the arts.
  • Increased NEA Funding: Strengthen the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) by increasing funding to support grants for arts programs in both urban and rural communities, ensuring broader access to arts and culture.
  • Arts in Education: Provide federal grants for schools to integrate arts programs into their curricula, ensuring that all students, especially in underserved areas, benefit from creative learning opportunities.
  • Public Art and Infrastructure: Allocate a percentage of federal infrastructure projects to fund public art installations, revitalizing communities and promoting cultural expression.
  • Creative Workforce Development: Support grants and workforce training programs to foster job growth in the creative industries, including digital arts, film production, and performance arts.
  • Art Therapy for Wellness: Promote federal funding for art therapy programs, particularly for veterans and individuals with disabilities, showcasing the value of creative expression in mental health and healing.

By supporting these policies, we can ensure that the arts continue to thrive and contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of our communities here in Louisiana.

Expanding Access to Child Care

I believe that expanding access to affordable child care is crucial in supporting families and reducing financial insecurity, which is a significant factor in the decision to seek an abortion. I believe that affordable, high-quality child care is essential for working families, but the cost of care continues to rise, becoming one of the biggest barriers to employment for parents, particularly women. This policy would aim to make child care more affordable and accessible to all families, regardless of income.

I will promote policies that increase funding for child care subsidies, improve access to early childhood education, and provide paid family leave. By creating a more supportive environment for women and families, we can help reduce the number of abortions and ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive.

I will fight for:

  • Universal Child Care: Establish a federal program that provides universal access to affordable child care for children aged 0-5, ensuring that every child receives quality early childhood education and care, regardless of their family’s financial situation.
  • Sliding-Scale Subsidies: Implement sliding-scale subsidies for middle- and low-income families to reduce the financial burden of child care, making it affordable and accessible to all. These subsidies would ensure that no family pays more than 7% of their income on child care.
  • Workforce Investment: Increase federal funding to train, hire, and retain high-quality early childhood educators, ensuring that child care providers receive fair wages and professional development opportunities.

These policies would provide relief for millions of working parents, especially women, allowing them to remain in the workforce without the crushing cost of child care. It would also support child development by ensuring children are in nurturing, educational environments.

 

Student Loans

Forgiving student loans is not a “get-out-of-jail-free card”; it is a crucial step towards rectifying a fundamental flaw in our educational system and fulfilling the American promise. In today’s economy, a high school diploma is no longer sufficient to secure a fair shot at the American Dream. While there was a time when this level of education was enough, that era has long passed. This shift is not meant to diminish the accomplishments of those, like my father, who succeeded without a college degree, but rather to acknowledge that such success stories are increasingly rare exceptions rather than the rule.

We must recognize that the cost of higher education has become a barrier to opportunity for too many Americans. You paid for an education that should have been covered as a public good, not treated as a luxury. We invest in education because it benefits all of us, strengthening our society and economy. Higher education is a capital investment in our future workforce, and it’s time we treated it as such.

Key Points of My Position

  1. Righting a Wrong: Student loan forgiveness is about addressing the broken promise of affordable education. It acknowledges that a modern economy requires more than a high school diploma, and the costs associated with this necessary education should not be a lifelong burden.
  2. Economic Necessity: In an increasingly global and competitive economy, access to higher education is essential. Our workforce needs advanced skills and knowledge to compete, innovate, and thrive. Making education accessible and affordable is a critical investment in our nation’s future.
  3. Public Good: Education should be seen as a public good, similar to primary and secondary education. By covering the costs of attending public universities, community colleges, and technical schools, we invest in our collective future. This is not a perk or giveaway; it’s an essential investment.
  4. Federal Debt Forgiveness: We must address the existing burden of student debt. Federal student loans should be forgiven to provide immediate relief to millions of Americans struggling with this financial burden. This will free up resources for individuals to invest in homes, businesses, and their communities, stimulating economic growth.
  5. Future Coverage: Moving forward, attending a public university, community college, or technical school should be covered. This approach ensures that future generations do not face the same financial hardships and can pursue higher education without the fear of crippling debt.

By forgiving student loans and ensuring that higher education is covered moving forward, we can right an obvious wrong and fulfill the promise of equal opportunity for all Americans. This is about more than individual financial relief; it’s about investing in our collective future and ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream. Let’s make education a priority and recognize it as the essential public good that it is.

Special Education

I understand the critical importance of having quality, qualified teachers for children with special needs in our public schools. The national shortage of special needs teachers is unacceptable and is robbing young people and their families of the opportunity to have a shot at the American Dream. Here’s my comprehensive plan to address this issue at the federal level:

Increased Funding for Special Education Programs

  • Fully Fund IDEA: We must fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide schools with the financial resources necessary to hire and retain qualified special needs teachers.
  • Grants for Recruitment and Retention: Establish federal grants specifically aimed at recruiting and retaining special needs teachers, offering competitive salaries, signing bonuses, and retention incentives.

Incentivizing Special Education Teaching Careers

  • Loan Forgiveness Programs: Expand loan forgiveness programs for special needs teachers, offering full loan forgiveness for those who commit to teaching in underserved areas or high-need schools for a certain number of years.
  • Scholarships and Stipends: Provide federal scholarships and stipends for students pursuing degrees in special education to make it more feasible for individuals to specialize in special needs teaching.

Professional Development and Support

  • Ongoing Training: Fund professional development programs to ensure special needs teachers receive ongoing training on the latest teaching strategies, technologies, and best practices for working with students with disabilities.
  • Mentorship Programs: Establish federal funding for mentorship programs that pair new special needs teachers with experienced mentors, helping to navigate the challenges of the profession and reduce turnover.

National Awareness and Recruitment Campaign

  • Public Awareness: Launch a national campaign to raise awareness about the importance of special education and the rewarding career opportunities it offers, inspiring more people to enter the field.
  • University Partnerships: Partner with universities and colleges to promote special education programs and provide pathways for students to enter the ESS teaching profession through internships, practicums, and job placement services.

Streamlined Certification Processes

  • Alternative Certification Programs: Support and expand alternative certification programs that allow individuals with relevant experience and skills to become ESS teachers quickly while maintaining high standards of teaching quality.
  • Reciprocity Agreements: Promote interstate reciprocity agreements to make it easier for ESS teachers to move between states without needing to re-certify, addressing regional shortages by allowing qualified teachers to work where they are most needed.

By implementing these federal measures, we can effectively address the shortage of ESS teachers and ensure that all students, including those with special needs, have access to the specialized support they require.

Charter Schools

I stand firmly in support of our community-based public schools, which I believe are fundamental to the American promise of equality and opportunity. While I recognize the original intent behind charter schools as laboratories for educational innovation, I am deeply concerned about the direction that many modern charter schools have taken.

Originally, charter schools were envisioned as partners to the public school system, experimenting with new teaching methods and curricula to enhance educational outcomes for all. Unfortunately, this vision has been overshadowed by practices that effectively transform these institutions into quasi-private schools that operate with public funds but without the corresponding public accountability. This shift not only diverts essential resources from our public schools but also undermines their ability to serve every child, contributing to a broader economic and civil rights crisis in our education system.

Charter schools, in their modern incarnation, often feature selective enrollment processes and operate under policies and management practices that lack transparency. This arrangement not only threatens the foundational principles of public education but also the very fabric of our communities. The unchecked expansion of such charter schools risks creating a two-tiered education system, where the benefits of innovation accrue to a select few while the majority are left in under-resourced public schools.

Therefore, while I am not opposed to the concept of charter schools as a supplementary part of our educational ecosystem, I advocate for stringent measures to ensure these schools are truly serving the public interest. This includes:

  • Enhanced Oversight: Implementing strict accountability measures that align charter schools more closely with the standards and transparency expected of public schools.
  • Equitable Funding: Ensuring that funding for charter schools does not detract from public schools, but rather is part of a holistic approach to lifting all educational institutions.
  • Community Integration: Requiring charter schools to demonstrate how they serve the broader educational and social needs of their communities, rather than operating as isolated entities. (Truthfully, I’d even be in favor of charter schools having a distinct and enforceable end date that must be submitted with their initial charter application, to ensure that the entire purpose of the school is to serve the broader system, not self-preservation.)

My commitment is to fully fund and support our public schools as the greatest equalizers in our society. Every American child deserves a quality education, and this must be our priority. I pledge to work tirelessly to reinforce the public school system, making it robust enough to ensure every child can achieve their American Dream. My commitment is to an education system that truly reflects our democratic values and advances our collective prosperity.

Life Skills & Education

I believe in an educational curriculum that prepares students for a global economy, emphasizing not only core academic subjects but also critical thinking, creativity, civic responsibility, and digital literacy. I support the integration of vocational training and life skills, ensuring students are well-equipped for various post-graduation paths.

Increased Teacher Pay & Support

I am a testament to the reality that educators are pivotal to student success. That’s why I propose increased investment in teacher salaries, benefits, and ongoing professional development opportunities. We should want to attract and retain high-quality educators in the public school system.

Support for Traditional Public Schools

Public schools are the great equalizer in our society and, in theory, the only true meritocracy we have left. In a perfect world, if you work hard and play by the rules, a public education can take you from poverty to wealth, merely on the basis of work ethic. That’s the American Dream. But it is dependent on a public education system that truly sets up the next generation for success. I firmly believe in the transformative power of education, which is why I advocate for an unprecedented level of federal investment in public school modernization. Our goal must be to ensure that every school is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, cutting-edge resources, and highly skilled educators. By prioritizing substantial investments in these critical areas, we can lift the standard of public education across the country, ensuring that all students, regardless of their background or where they live, have access to the high-quality education they rightfully deserve. This commitment to enhancing public schools reflects our broader commitment to fostering a society where every individual has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to our collective progress.

Opposition to Privatization of Public Schools

I am unequivocally against the privatization of public schools and the unchecked expansion of charter schools. I believe in improving our existing public schools rather than diverting funds to private entities that lack accountability and often do not serve the best interests of all students, particularly the most disadvantaged.

Ensuring Equitable Education Funding

I believe in equitable funding models that ensure all public schools, especially those in underserved communities, receive the support and resources they need. This involves revising funding formulas to address disparities and ensure that every school has access to adequate resources, technology, and skilled educators.

Where a child lives shouldn’t determine the quality of education they get. I support federal action that addresses fixing how schools are funded, especially helping those in areas that really need it. We’re talking about shaking up the current system to make sure money is going where it’s needed most, so all schools have great resources, the latest technology, and awesome teachers, while ensuring the funds really make a difference where they’re supposed to.