John — Some of my proudest accomplishments in my career in public service have been those which served to make schools better, safer, and more affordable for everyone.

Growing up, I had some incredible teachers who motivated me to read and learn more about the world. From my speech teacher, who showed me the power of the spoken word, to my English teacher, who introduced me to the works of Shakespeare and inspired a lifelong passion for reading. I wouldn’t be who I am today without these incredible teachers.

And I believe every Californian deserves access to high-quality education that sets them up for a bright future. I’ve made improving schools a major part of my life’s work — and I want to tell you a bit more about what I’ve done for schools, and what I want to do to improve schools from the U.S. Senate.

While I was running for California State Senate and knocking on doors in my neighborhood, I met a mother with five children. She told me that the textbooks her children had in school were out-of-date — in fact, her youngest child was using the same textbook her eldest child had used ten years earlier. A textbook so old I was told it talked optimistically about the day we might land on the moon — and it was being used in the ‘90s.

So I got to work as a bright-eyed new legislator. I introduced a bill to guarantee funding for up-to-date textbooks for all K-12 schools in California.

The LA Times wrote that my bill didn’t have “a snowball’s chance in hell” of passing — but it did, and we secured $1 billion for new textbooks.

I also played a key role in passing legislation that reduced class sizes and helped secure critical cost-of-living increases for teacher pensions.

Every kid deserves the opportunity to go to school and learn in a safe, welcoming environment. And their teachers deserve fair wages and benefits for the vital work they do to help our kids succeed.

So as Trump threatens to eliminate the Department of Education and nominates a Secretary of Education who is quite possibly *more* unqualified than Betsy DeVos (remember her?), I’m fighting for our kids in the U.S. Senate.

I believe that we need to significantly increase funding for Head Start programs. This will help thousands of kids from low-income households get access to high-quality education.

I believe we should give teachers refundable tax credits to boost teacher compensation and address the wage gap between teachers and other professions.

I believe that we must expand meal programs for kids. Every student should be able to start their day with a nutritious, free breakfast and refuel with a healthy lunch — no matter their zip code.

I believe that we should expand the Pell Grant. These grants help put college in reach for millions of students — by passing the College for All Act, we can make that a reality.

I believe that we must invest in teachers and schools. To allow future generations of students to learn in safe, welcoming environments, we need to make sure their teachers and school staff receive fair wages and the respect they deserve.

I believe that childcare and pre-k should be universal, to ensure that all children have access to early learning opportunities. And childcare copayments for families should be capped at no more than 5-10% of their income, or be waived for families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.

John, every child deserves the opportunity to learn and thrive, just like I did as a student growing up.

Thank you for reading more about my work to improve our schools — as well as my plans to keep building on that progress for all students.

— Adam