Alexi believes that a quality education serves as the foundation of the American economy.  As we climb out from this economic crisis, we must prepare Americans for the jobs of the future. This strategy is about more than just recovery — it is about how we will emerge stronger than before.  America will only continue to lead if our children can compete in the global economy.

Alexi’s education plan outlines several policy priorities to make our education system effective, affordable, and accessible – from comprehensive early childhood education programs, to reduced class sizes and better teacher support, to reform of No Child Left Behind.  As a next step, he supports a series of initiatives to create a new generation of innovators in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Alexi speaks with students at a school in Chicago, Illinois.

Invest in the proven success of early childhood education

Alexi’s plan begins before children enter kindergarten with increased investment in Head Start, Early Head Start, and other early childhood education programs.

We save up to $17 in the future for every dollar we invest in our children before the age of five, because they are likely to earn more and less likely to drop out of school, be incarcerated, or seek welfare.

Protect teachers in the grip of the recession

In the midst of the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression, Alexi believes that our education system must be protected from massive layoffs and budget cuts. That’s why he strongly supports Senator Harkin’s amendment to effectively extend the education funding provisions in last year’s Recovery Act.  This provision would go a long way to help avert the devastating budget cuts facing local school districts throughout Illinois.

Hire an army of new teachers and give them the resources to succeed

Nearly a third of America’s three million teachers could retire in the next four years.  This will require a new army of talented teachers.  President Obama’s nationwide Teacher Recruitment Program is a good start, but there remains a lot of work to be done once we get those teachers into the classroom. Alexi supports new and innovative ways to reward good teachers with higher pay as long as those decisions are made by local districts and developed with teachers, not imposed on them.  Districts should have the ability to reward teachers who work in underserved places, like rural areas and inner cities, and in challenging schools experiencing teacher shortages.  Districts should also be able to reward accomplished educators who serve as mentors to new teachers.  If teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work is valued and should be rewarded too.

Alexi will push to create a merit-based scholarship program that would target 25,000 students pursuing both a K-12 teacher certification and a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field.  In return, the students would have to commit to teach for at least five years.

Reducing class size improves student achievement, particularly for younger children, and plays an especially important role in raising student achievement in high-poverty, at-risk schools.  Studies have shown that more teacher-student interaction allows teachers to recognize the needs of individual students and customize instruction and assignments, leading to large gains in reading and math. Alexi will prioritize education funding to states so that they will be able to reduce class size.

Improve Race to the Top

The Obama administration’s Race to the Top program is a good start to reforming our education system and improving the outcomes for students nationwide.

Alexi believes charter schools play an important role in Race to the Top as laboratories for creative teaching strategies and new learning models, but the inconsistencies in the quality of charter schools should be addressed through greater accountability and oversight.  Alexi would like to see a clear process for closing down those schools that chronically underperform.

Alexi supports new and innovative ways to reward good teachers with higher pay as long as those decisions are made by local districts and developed with teachers, not imposed on them.  He supports programs that give districts the ability to reward teachers who work in underserved places, like rural areas and inner cities, and challenging schools experiencing teacher shortages.  Districts should also be able to reward accomplished educators who serve as mentors to new teachers.  If teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work is valued and should be rewarded too.

Reform No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind had the right goals but the wrong strategy and inadequate funding. It must be reformed to reduce the focus on standardized tests, and provide a support mechanism for teachers and schools that are underperforming. The program must also replace the current accountability system with one that gives credit for progress.

Make higher education and advanced job training available to all

Higher education or advanced job training is critical to building a competitive workforce.  Alexi will continue to make higher education more affordable by supporting an expansion of Pell Grants and proposing new financial incentives and tax credits to make sure any young person who works hard can afford to attend school.  Alexi supports indexing the maximum Pell grant to the inflation rate plus 1 percent, and protecting it from future cuts by exempting the maximum Pell grant level from the appropriations process.

Alexi supports a new Innovation Partnership Investment Fund that would match investments up to $1 million made by companies in university research into the next generation of energy and information technology.  These types of partnerships provide universities with the resources to conduct cutting-edge research, give students the type of real-world research experience that will help them succeed upon graduation, and offer companies access to leading thinkers and research laboratories.

Alexi wants to double the current 1 million apprenticeships and would start by pushing legislation to provide a $1000 a year tax credit to businesses for each apprenticeship they create.  These programs have been shown to create openings in areas that are most likely to be industries of the future, and are particularly useful in moving students into good-paying jobs upon graduation.

Fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

All students have a right to receive a quality education. Unfortunately, Congress has not provided adequate funding for schools to educate students with disabilities. Currently, the federal government is providing just a fraction of the promised funding and as a result, school districts have been forced to absorb the shortfall, taking money that could otherwise be used for smaller classes, teacher pay, school building upgrades and other important efforts.

Alexi supports the bipartisan initiatives to require the federal government to fully fund its share of the per-pupil cost of educating children covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.