The United States is the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. In this competitive global economy, it is more important than ever that we ensure a strong public education system, not just to secure our global stance, but to ensure that every citizen of our nation has equal access to opportunity.
Over the past few decades, the issue of education reform has completely fallen out of the political arena, despite our significant decline in educational competitiveness. Funding has been cut mercilessly to offer tax breaks to the wealthy and wage unending conflicts instead of ensuring that we have a system that can allow the children of America to enter the workforce ready and well-equipped to face the challenges of the modern world.
School segregation, discrimination, and severe student loan debt are inhibiting our students and forcing them to sacrifice their true passions to pursue jobs that can pay back their loans.
America’s children deserve an education system that is properly funded and designed to offer everybody the opportunity to succeed. The Horace Mann Plan for Public Education (aka The Mann Plan), named after the legendary proponent for public education in the United States, is designed to ensure that this becomes and remains possible.
Fighting Discrimination
Racism and classism have hindered student success.
The desegregation of schools will ensure that students are able to grow and thrive without facing the unjust burdens of discrimination.
-Double down on investigations into school segregation and collaborate with state governments to enforce desegregation orders
-Increase funding for desegregation efforts
-Increase funding for public magnet schools
-Offer implicit bias training to all faculty
-Advocate for more diverse school boards
Better Funding for our Schools
A large part of ensuring that children have the opportunities they deserve is funding our education system properly. Students need a safe atmosphere to explore and grow in. A secure school environment is part of that — renovating schools that are falling apart is essential to ensuring student safety.
-Increase the Department of Education’s budget
-Increase HBCU funding
-Allocate funding for career and technical training in high schools
-Increase school transportation funding
-Increase funding for Title I
-Launch a nationwide school infrastructure repair plan
-Establish a national per-student spending floor
-Ensure state coverage of SAT/ACT/other college-related exam fees
Helping our Teachers
Teachers are the backbone of the public education system; supporting them is supporting the system as a whole.
-Work to set a $45k floor for teacher salaries
-End racial/gender disparities in teacher salaries
-Create a federal grant program to provide teachers with funds needed for purchasing classroom supplies instead of having teachers spend their own money on supplies
Creating Opportunity for All
A strong school system is one that has plentiful opportunities across schools all over the nation for students of all backgrounds. Students should not be limited by their school lacking resources or their parents being economically unable to invest in their education.
-Strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Act
-Allocate funding for the training of special education teachers
-Increase enforcement of the ADA in schools
-Invest in universal Pre-K
-Offer free breakfast and lunch to all students
-Cover tuition for two-year vocational schools & associate’s/bachelor’s degrees from community colleges
-Increase the amount of student aid offered
-Reform the PSLF program
Modernizing Education
This is the 21st century and the dawn of a new era. Let’s create an education system that’s suited to a globalized, technology-utilizing world.
-Create specialized plans for high school students, allowing them to focus on different career paths/areas of interest
-Support shifts in school curriculum to teach life skills including, but not limited to: financial literacy, budgeting, time management, interview skills, communication, and job-seeking without attending college
-Improve civics teaching
-Support legislation to allow NCAA athletes to be paid
Spreading Education Access
As a global superpower, we have a duty to advocate for education access and equity around the world.
-Advocate for making education more equitable around the world
-Reaffirm our commitment to UNESCO