Alan believes we must have Universal Preschool starting at age three for all families who cannot afford it. Studies show that the first few years of a child’s life are some of the most important in fostering intellectual growth and development. Children who do not have access to Pre-K, end up starting kindergarten at least 500 words or more behind and without intensive tutoring, often never catch up. Investment in universal Pre-K education is more just and in the end, more than pays for itself in higher graduation rates and each child being able to achieve their full potential.

Alan supports a public option for broadband access on the order of FDR’s Rural Electrification Act during the New Deal. Thirty-seven percent of homes in Fall River do not have access to broadband, nor do many students and families in rural and low income areas. A service corps could partner with companies and the government to bring internet hotspots to these areas, similar to what rural electrification did in the 1930s.

Alan wants to increase teacher compensation. There is no more important person in our public school system than the teacher in the classroom. Teachers hold such an important place in the lives of almost every person; they should be fairly compensated for their invaluable work. Teachers should be compensated enough such that they too can achieve the American dream — own a home, send their children to college and have a comfortable retirement. Additionally, communities across our district ought to be able to provide a living wage and benefits to enable high-quality teacher recruitment and retention of a diverse set of educators, especially staff of color. With higher, six- figure, salaries, entering the teaching profession would be further encouraged, inspiring more people to pursue it.

Alan encourages fully funding the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. With over 50 million children relying on the American public education system, and since 1965, the ESEA held ground as the federal government’s largest investment in K–12 education, and it is a crucial mechanism both in funding and in guiding policy for all public schools. By fully funding this Act, public schools all over America will be able to fund more programs, pay staff more, and provide higher quality education than they ever could before.

Alan will use American Dream Accounts to tackle student loan debt. Each American will enter adulthood with the opportunity to avoid student debt with one year of voluntary national service. American Dream Accounts will yield far more than the average student loan debt. Students should have access to tuition-free higher education as a benefit of enrolling in a year of national service work through programs like AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps or YouthBuild. The American Dream Account savings can be used for higher education, job training, down payments on a first home, and more.

Alan will introduce legislation to allow any American who volunteers for a year of national service to gain access to student loan debt forgiveness. A portion of that debt will be forgiven for every additional year of service, up to ten years at which point all remaining debt would be forgiven.

Alan wants to reduce the emphasis on high-stakes testing. As the father of a child who is dyslexic, Alan has seen first-hand the impact of “teaching to the test.” We need to have fair measures to assess how students are learning but also ensure that we aren’t crowding out other important subjects and that we are teaching our students to think critically and solve problems not just memorize material.

Alan will hold charter schools to the same level of transparency as public schools. Charter schools, including online charter schools and for-profit charters, receive funds from the government. They are funded by taxpayers, and therefore their finances should be transparent to the taxpayer.

Alan supports evening the playing field between schools serving low and high-income areas. As a result of higher property taxes, schools in high-income areas receive more funding; better-funded schools offer more to students. This continues the cycle of more affluent districts having better educational opportunities while low income districts lack resources. We should use increasing federal Title I funding to even out the playing field for lower-income areas.

Alan supports restoring Civics to our public schools throughout the K-12 system and will help programs like Generation Citizen expand across the 4th District. He also wants to expand Service Learning in our schools through a new Service Learning fund at the department of education. Alan would also like to make the second semester of senior year in High School a Service Semester whereby all students would do community service learning projects as a capstone to their senior year.

Alan believes in funding education support professionals and specialized instructional support professionals. These professionals include custodial and maintenance personnel, school bus drivers, paraeducators, secretaries, nurses, psychologists, and more. Schools are more than simply teachers; it takes an entire workforce to educate our nation’s children. Each individual role plays an intrinsic part within the institution, and all are entirely necessary.

Alan wants to incentivize teacher preparation programs. Comprehensive “residencies” would last at least a year in which accomplished teachers guide new teachers. Supporting incentives for teacher preparation programs to recruit and retain teacher candidates from under-represented groups is imperative to expand diversity in the teaching workforce. The growing diversity in the US should be mirrored in the teaching workforce.

Alan supports increasing school modernization funding. New, green infrastructure across the US is imperative and will aid in creating good jobs. Expanding reliable connection to broadband and computers will close the gaps among low-income students who do not have access to an adequate internet connection.

Alan believes in a more holistic approach to education and expanding the community school model in which academics are supplemented with health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement. A recently released study on New York City Community Schools by the RAND Corporation found that chronic absences and disciplinary incidents are down, average math test scores have improved, and high schools have seen an increase in the number of credits earned by students.