I come from a family of educators, both of my parents are K-12 teachers. Growing up, I saw the amount of hard work teachers put into their professions, and the demands on our K-12 educators. I know the importance of a strong, well-funded K-12 education. I was also an undergraduate student in the generation of students saddled with student loan debts, I understand the value of an affordable education. I recently graduated with my Master’s, which will further my career, but has also provided me with even more student loan debts. I understand the weight a cost of a higher education can put on a person. I also work in higher education. I see the hurdles placed in front of students everyday.
I will always have funding for education and our public schools in mind when decision making
K-12 education will always hold a soft spot in my heart because of the work of my parents. We can all remember a teacher we had in school, whether it be elementary, middle, or high school. I can think of many teachers throughout my education like this. We need to have fully funded K-12 schools in Minnesota to continue educating the next generations of Minnesotans, and stop depending on our K-12 teachers to foot the bill themselves.
Pre-K Education
Early childhood education should be a priority in Minnesota. High-quality child care and pre-k for kids from birth to age 5 will give our children the opportunity to start kindergarten prepared to succeed. This is important for our children’s futures, and step towards closing the equity gap and creating more opportunities for our youngest students.
An affordable Higher Education
As an undergrad student, my dad constantly told me how much more expensive the cost of my education was than his was in the 1980’s. Students today simply cannot afford to attend college, even if they are able to work full-time throughout college. Working a part-time job in the summer to pay for college is simply no longer a reality and we need to assist Minnesota Students as much as possible.