Education for All — Not Just the Privileged Few

Every kid deserves a school that sees them, challenges them, and prepares them for a real future. Every parent deserves a system they can trust. And every adult deserves access to lifelong learning — without a lifetime of debt.

But what we have now is a system strained by austerity, warped by privatization, and increasingly attacked by politicians who would rather censor books than fund classrooms.

We’re not going to let them turn our schools into battlegrounds. We’re going to make them launchpads.

Start with the Basics: Safety, Nourishment, and Space to Grow

You can’t learn if you’re hungry. You can’t focus if the air is stale or the heat’s off. You can’t develop emotionally if you’re constantly afraid. If we want real education reform, we need to start by meeting students’ most fundamental needs — just like Maslow’s hierarchy tells us.

- Guarantee free, universal breakfast and lunch for every public school student — no stigma, no paperwork
- Invest in modern HVAC systems and clean air in every school — so classrooms are safe in winter and summer
- Protect physical and emotional safety by funding school counselors, restorative justice programs, and evidence-based violence prevention
- Oppose school hardening and armed teachers — and instead invest in the people who keep students safe through trust, not force
- Defend recess and unstructured play as essential to cognitive and social development — not a privilege for high-performing districts

Fully Fund Public Schools — No Excuses

- Full federal funding of Title I to support low-income schools
- A national plan to fix school infrastructure — from leaking pipes and broken windows to ADA access
- Real support for dual-language, ESL, and inclusive special education
- Mental health services, libraries, arts programs, and after-school enrichment — for every school, not just the wealthy ones

End the Student Debt Trap

- Canceling federal student debt — especially for low and middle-income borrowers
- Making community college free and public 4-year college debt-free
- Cracking down on for-profit diploma mills
- Expanding Pell Grants and income-based repayment — with no bureaucratic games

Protect the Freedom to Learn

Across the country, extremist politicians are banning books, censoring history, and targeting teachers. Not here.

- Block any federal support for curriculum censorship or classroom gag laws
- Defend teachers, professors, and librarians under attack
- Support the teaching of civics, labor history, Indigenous and Black history, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and climate literacy
- Expand bilingual and multicultural education as a national strength — and start early. Language acquisition is easiest for children when they’re young — and every student in the 9th should have the opportunity to grow up bilingual or multilingual.

Invest in Educators — and Everyone Who Makes Schools Work

- Create a minimum federal salary floor for teachers, regionally adjusted
- Fund pathways to tuition-free public college for future educators
- Fully fund support staff: paraprofessionals, bus drivers, food service workers, janitors, and aides
- Protect union rights and collective bargaining in every state

Connect Learning to Opportunity

- Career and technical education (CTE) and dual enrollment options
- Union-led apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs
- Tuition-free community college for learners of all ages — not just high school grads. Seniors may want to take a cooking class. Adults may want to learn a new language or change careers. Just like libraries, community colleges should be treated as public goods. For younger students, free community college can also mean getting their first two years of a bachelor’s degree debt-free.
- Adult education and public libraries as hubs for access, skills, and connection

Justin Ford For Congress

Education for All — Not Just the Privileged Few