I am a proud product of Michigan public schools. My mom was a Michigan public school teacher and first-generation college graduate. My family instilled in me the value of education. Thanks to my public school education, I had the opportunity to attend college on grants, loans, and work-study programs. I went on to serve our country for 28 years as a Foreign Service officer, becoming Ambassador twice and the first woman to serve as a U.S. Ambassador in a war zone. Most importantly to me, I’m a mom and I believe education is the foundation for opportunity for everyone in our country.

Every child in Michigan deserves a strong public education. That means funding universal pre-kindergarten and fully funding K-12 schools, with well-supported union educators, like my mom, whose MEA union membership ensured I had excellent health care growing up. It means giving students choices that match their skills, goals, and the job market. It means making it easier for parents to pay for childcare. It means not allowing the destruction of the Department of Education. We must do all this and more to strengthen our public schools to give opportunity to every child.

In Congress, I will fight to:

• Restore the disastrous cuts made to the Department of Education, which have resulted in a loss of services to students in our district.

• Invest in programs that support multiple post-secondary career pathways including college, trade schools, and technical education programs.

• Fully fund and protect Title 1 programs that provide funding for essential programs for under-advantaged children and those with special needs.

• Ensure academic excellence in public schools by supporting standards and accountability programs in partnership with parents and educators to increase reading, writing, and math levels.

• Increase the childcare tax credit for working families and make it refundable.

• Expand 529 tax-advantaged education savings plans to cover childcare and preschool expenses.

• Reverse the Medicaid cuts that stripped funding for special education programs including ADA infrastructure upgrades for disabled students.

• Support the collective bargaining rights of teachers, administrators, and staff.

• Restore access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for educators as a qualified profession and pay them like the professionals they are.