I don’t encounter a lot of people in Congress who walked the same path that I did to get there. Growing up, I faced significant challenges at home. My mom, like so many Americans, was over-prescribed opioids, which led to a decades-long addiction that included heroin and fentanyl.

Even though I faced significant challenges at home, I was one of the lucky ones. I had access to great public schools and teachers who believed in me. Because of their investments in me, I went a much different path than I was likely to go.

But right now, the same opportunities that I had to build a better life are being stripped away from thousands of kids here in Colorado’s 7th District — all to pay for tax cuts to billionaires like Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

The Department of Education is far more than just another government agency.

It provides critical resources for schools to support students of all ages and economic backgrounds. It allows districts to hire more teachers and counselors. It provides essential funding for early-childhood education programs, including Head Start. And it even helps distribute millions of Pell grants every year — allowing more students to pursue their dreams and to build a better life for themselves.

But by taking those resources away, students across the country — including kids who are facing the very same challenges that I did — will be left behind. And I won’t let that stand.

I promise to keep fighting every day to shield our students, teachers, and schools from the consequences of this devastating plan, but we need to show that families from Colorado feel the same way I do. I hope you’ll join me by chipping in a donation to help me keep up my fight for public schools, students, and teachers.

Thank you,

Brittany