John,
I have some exciting news to share with you today: I was just named Vice Chair of the House Committee on Education & Labor! This is a tremendous honor, and I'm proud and thankful to be able to join Chairman Bobby Scott in leading the essential work of the committee.
Many of you know that I am an educator, first and foremost. I was a middle school principal in the Bronx for ten years before I joined Congress. I've worked with students and families all over New York throughout my career. My belief that leaders must lead with love and compassion is largely grounded in my background as an educator.
I came to Congress to represent the children, the educators, and the communities who have been left behind by our unequal and unjust education and economic systems. In the richest country in the world, every child and every worker should be able to live in dignity and reach their full potential, but our public education system is broken. The past four years under Betsy DeVos have been an unmitigated disaster for public education — and that was true even before the pandemic made it harder to teach and harder to learn.
Labor in our country is broken, too. We're stuck in a system that centers profits over people. Working families are finding it harder and harder to pay the bills, put food on the table, and keep a roof over their heads. We need to fix that.
Thank you for all that you do, John.
Peace and love,
Jamaal Bowman
