There are over 55 million students who are enrolled in K-12 schools nationwide, and are being taught the skills necessary to prepare them for life after high school. The first public school opened in 1635 in Boston, Massachusetts as a “boys only” school. The nation only saw the integration of women in 1826, and full integration of minority students after the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Our nation has come a long way since 1954 but we are now seeing more injustices within the school system that must be tackled head on to ensure that every public school in America is treated equally by the federal government, students' concerns are taken seriously, and teachers are being paid a living wage. Our leaders must make record investments into our schools and change the policies that are hurting already disadvantaged communities throughout this country. Also to be addressed is stability for DACA recipients with a recent federal judge in Texas ruling DACA unlawful. This cannot stand.
We are advocating for…
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Long-term investments in public education to ensure that school districts are investing in 21st century equipment like computers, tablets, 3-D printers, and coding software to prepare students for the economy of the future.
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Fairness in public school funding- currently on average schools across the country allocate 16% less in funding per student in minority-majority schools.
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Addressing students' mental health- investing in resources like mental health therapists and counselors as well as additional anti-bullying campaigns throughout the school year. This was an issue prior to the pandemic.
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Increase teacher pay- studies have shown that by increasing teachers wages means keeping teachers in the classroom therefore, a stronger, more diverse future workforce, and ultimately students do better.
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Every American student to have access to broadband by 2024
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Allocation of funding for school infrastructure to address decades of underinvestment in already underserved communities.
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Preservation and fortifying of the DACA program.
K-12 Education Reform
Legalization of Marijuana
With nearly half of the United States population living in boundaries that have or will soon have marijuana legalized, the federal government must act to legalize marijuana. Marijuana has contributed to 43% of all drug related arrests in 2018 alone and of those arrests nearly 90% is because of possession. People of color, especially black Americans, are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession compared to white Americans. According to the ACLU, the changes in the marijuana laws since 2010 have made significant changes but the racial disparities are still at the same rates when it comes to arrests. It is time to make changes to this antiquated law, 79% of 18-29 year olds approve of marijuana legalization and nearly 70% of Americans also approve. It’s time to legalize marijuana!
We are advocating for…
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Full legalization of medical marijuana as this drug has helped save lives for those who suffer from epilepsy and children who have severe seizures.
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Full legalization of recreational marijuana as it would work towards eliminating the racial disparities associated with marijuana and aid in removing the stigma around marijuana use and possession.
Assault Weapons Ban
Since 2009 there have been over 275 mass shootings resulting in over 1500 people dying and an additional close to 1000 wounded. The most mass shootings have occurred in California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas totaling nearly 100 mass shootings in these five states alone. The weapon of choice in the last three major school shootings; Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, and Uvalde have been semi-automatic assault weapons. It is clear that these weapons which are designed for war do not belong on our streets for the mass murder of innocent American children entering schools to learn. This idea of an assault weapons ban is not something new, in fact, President Bill Clinton signed a ten-year assault weapons ban in 1994 which then expired in 2004. This bill was approved by the Senate in a vote 95-4. This ban resulted in a 17% decrease in crimes involving assault weapons according to a study done by the Department of Justice. Additionally, a Stanford study found that this ban also played a role in the drop of mass shootings and deaths across the nation. It is time that we prioritize students' lives over special interests.
We are advocating for…
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Universal background checks so that convicted felons or domestic abusers cannot purchase a gun from gun shows and non-licensed dealers.
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The renewal of the assault weapons ban so that we can get weapons of war off our streets, protect students in the classrooms, and see the same results as we did during the 1994-2004 assault weapons ban.
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Extreme Risk Protection Orders to prevent mass shootings, suicide, and intimate partner violence.
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Ghost Gun Regulation to ensure background checks are conducted, traceable, and abide by common sense gun safety laws (yet to be passed).
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Close the Charleston Loophole.
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Close the Boyfriend Loophole.
Voter Protection
During our time in K-12 education, we learn that our right to vote is sacred. However, what we have come to learn over the years is that Republicans at the state and national level will do whatever it takes to make it more difficult for people to vote, especially students and people of color. There are nearly 400 bills that have been introduced in 48 states, this year alone. Georgia led the charge by passing the most restrictive voter suppression law since The Voting Rights Act in 1965. Their bill has been the model for the other 47 legislatures and has provisions like grating state power to remove local election officials from their jobs, additional identification for absentee ballots, closing the polls on Sunday for early voting which targeted Georgia’s African American community, and prohibited the distribution of food and water to prospective voters while they wait to cast their ballots. In Florida, the Governor recently signed a bill requiring students and faculty to have their beliefs surveyed annually. Other states like New Hampshire are looking at options to stop students from voting at their college address. These students pay taxes and contribute to their local economies; denying them voting rights in their state is just wrong!
We are advocating for...
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Automatic voter registration so that every American citizen who turns 18 can cast a ballot.
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Expanded early voting and expanded locations to include their college campus, which will allow students and other Americans to cast their ballot with ease and at their convenience.
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Passing the For the People Act which would expand voting rights, override the current state restrictions, end partisan gerrymandering, and include additional campaign finance reform laws.
Mental Health
The number of individuals affected by mental health issues has increased significantly over the years due to lack of investments in facilities and care. The covid pandemic has caused this growth to accelerate further. Over 9.7% of youth in the country have severe major depression, which has grown from the 9.2% of pre-pandemic. Even prior to the pandemic our population’s mental healthcare delivery has worsened. In 2017-18 it was reported that 19% of all adults experienced a mental illness, and suicidal ideation has increased in adults from 2016/17 to 2017/18 by .15%. A total of 5.1 million (10.8% nationally) adults with mental illness are uninsured for the first time since the affordable care act was passed, and 93% increase in total anxiety screenings and a 62% increase in depression screenings from 2019 to september of 2020. And when it comes to mental health on college campuses the numbers are distressing; a 2016 survey found that 39% of all college students were struggling with at least one mental illness which likely worsened with the pandemic. What do all these statistics tell us? It tells us our country is struggling with the ever increasing number in need of mental health assistance. One final but most important statistic is that only 43% of all people living with mental illness receive treatment for their condition, and only 67% for serious mental illness.
It is reported that minorities and those below the poverty line are more likely to experience the risk factors that can cause such mental health disorders, yet less likely to have access to care services. This is unacceptable for the richest nation in the world! So where do we go from here? What can be done to improve the mental well being of our population?
We are advocating for the following…
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Providing campus wide access for students to free counseling and psychological services
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Establishing nationwide guidelines for campus officials to support and address mental health care issues of students. Faculty and staff are best poised to identify a student who may be in distress and should receive training through well established protocols and guidance to intervene early before a situation becomes a crisis.
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The creation of a more flexible academic curriculum and offering of additional support for those struggling to keep up due to mental health issues.
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Improving social welfare services and making mental health care more affordable to everyone. This can be done by providing Universal Health Care, which will allow access to care centers, affordable medication, and therapists to those in need regardless of financial situation. We must put an end to the insurance and drug companies' domination of the healthcare system, which prevents many individuals without insurance or the ability to pay for medication to be able to receive the care they need.
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Creating mental health awareness, removing the stigma associated with mental health issues and ensuring the care for those currently struggling in our communities.
Student Debt Relief
The total amount of student loan debt is five times larger than 18 years ago, growing from 330 billion to now 1.7 trillion dollars. Student loan debt grows 6 times faster than our nation's economy. With more jobs currently requiring degrees, it has become necessary to seek advanced degrees to remain competitive in the job market, often still not making a living wage; the same job opportunities generations before received, elude us. Prior generations did not face these levels of student debt due to pell grants offered and significantly lower interest rates. Borrowing interest rates are much higher and college tuition levels have skyrocketed out of control. There are approximately 42.9 million student borrowers, each owing an average of $39,351. The average student borrower takes approximately 20 years to pay off their debt in full. This is a massive boulder in a graduate’s path to sustain a reasonable lifestyle, while balancing student loans with living expenses in an era where rents are skyrocketing. Just as inequities exist in other areas of our society, student debt hits certain demographics much harder than others. With 58% of all student debt attributable to women, who already earn 82% of their male counterparts, the gap becomes even wider; the scales are tipped even further for people of color, which puts even more pressure on these groups as they launch their careers burdened with debt. Another statistic that highlights the growing crisis of student loan debt is the fact that 53% of millennials have not bought a home because student loan debt has either disqualified them or made it impossible to afford a mortgage. Putting an end to the student debt crisis is long overdue!
We are advocating for….
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$50,000 student loan forgiveness for people who make less than $200,000 a year. In order to reestablish a healthy, strong middle class, it should be a priority to relieve student debt. Debt forgiveness will allow graduates to afford housing, living expenses and to thrive like the generations before us.
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Free community college tuition to all students and for those making less than $125,000 per year a four year university degree should be free. Tuition cost should be proportional to one's income because no one should be deprived of an education that will afford them a living wage. A family making $125,000/yr should not have to pay near full tuition for two kids in college while paying for a mortgage, should they be so lucky, for healthcare and living expenses. A family's debt burden cannot be underestimated, especially with the cost of living continuously on the rise.
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Universities to invest in their students, not their stocks. Many universities have huge endowments and related investments, while investments in student resources, improved infrastructure, or academic salaries occur sporadically. Tuition rate hikes contribute to their bottom line. This must end! The largest and richest universities in the country should have an obligation to allocate funds for students in need. This includes covering/lowering cost, investing in better salaries for faculty, and investing in student necessities like mental health, disability infrastructure and programs, inclusivity, etc.
Equality
Let's start with acknowledging that there are gender, social, economic, racial and environmental inequities in our society. And when we discuss inequality, we must take an intersectional approach. Racial, gender, socio-economic, sexuality and other social identities intersect and compound levels of discrimination experienced in society. This exacerbates the wealth gap between the top 1% and the bottom 99 and the wealth gap among race, gender, and the way society views minority groups. The top 1 percent in this country owns 15x more wealth than the bottom 50%. The median white household has a net worth 10x more than the median African American household, with a total racial wealth gap of $10.14 trillion. There is a similar trend with Hispanic households being about 8x lower than the median white household. White Americans have a lower unemployment rate than minorities in this country. Gender inequality has resulted in 27% of female led households being below the poverty line, in comparison with only 13% of male led households. Women still only earn 82% on average as compared to the white male. This disparity is even greater when looking at minority women percent income vs white men with the average Latina and black women earning 55% and 63% of white men. Native American women earn 60% of white men. The decades of systematic racism has resulted in these massive inequities among minorities and women. It is imperative that we raise awareness to the social issues and discrimination that women, POC, and members of the LGBTQ+ community face. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has been ratified by the 38 required number of states but we have yet to witness its incorporation into the Constitution. The House voted to remove the arbitrary timeline on the ERA in March 2021. The Senate has not. Regardless of what happens in the Senate, ultimately, the SCOTUS will decide whether there should be equal justice under the law for women. Given the war on women that is currently in full force, without equal protections under the law and discrimination on the basis of sex, reproductive rights will continue to be under attack and other issues that affect women disproportionately.
We are advocating for the following….
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Raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans who have enjoyed tax breaks and allocating appropriate levels of funding to programs and resources like education, housing, healthcare, and infrastructure would allow historically oppressed groups to have the resources to thrive. We’ve seen during the pandemic that underserved communities are the backbone of our society; we’ve labeled them essential workers but yet do not recognize the value of their labor. We need a wealth tax.
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Raising the minimum wage as no one should live below the poverty line. Everyone deserves a living wage and quality of life. Families should not have to work multiple jobs or shifts to pay their rent and keep food on the table while still not having access to healthcare or a good education.
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Raising awareness, support, and education about the systematic and social inequalities that minority groups continue to face in our country, including women, the disabled, POC, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. This should in part be done through curriculums in middle and high schools educating them about the effects of these inequalities to advocate for policies that will allow each to thrive.
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Passing legislation that clears the path for the ERA to be enshrined in the constitution. The arbitrary timeline on the Equal Rights Amendment must be removed by the Senate. The composition of Congress matters. Judicial appointments matter.
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Electing candidates who support expanding reproductive freedom. Reproductive freedom must be codified. The war on women must end.
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Reckoning with racial, social, economic, environmental, and reproductive justice must be a priority. Critical race theory has a place in our schools. The rise in domestic terrorism by white nationalists due to the great replacement theory has no place in our society and must be addressed. Our schools must be safe places.
Title IX Expansion
Title IX was an amendment to education legislation that protects against discrimination on the basis of sex in education and activities in federally funded schools, to ensure equal access to an education for all students, both male and female. It opened doors for women's athletics making athletic scholarships available and included protections against sexual assault. Federal funding is withheld from schools that are non-compliant. The question arises as to how schools are held accountable and what type of transparency and compliance reporting should be required. A common theme continues to be inequities felt by schools in underserved communities that struggle to allocate funding to programs benefiting women and girls. There continues to be gender inequality in collegiate sports between men and women. You can see this in the advertising budget, or in the most recent March Madness videos that went viral showing the disparity between women’s and men’s weight rooms. What has led to these disparities is the lack of enforcement caused by the underfunding of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). In a letter, The Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights called for the doubling of the OCR’s budget to $260 Million since there has been a 187% increase in the number of complaints to OCR but limited resources to address them. This is unacceptable. NCAA basketball players this March 2021 - their weight rooms told the story. Discriminatory practices are still rampant in sports.
Title IX has led to a gradual increase in the number of women and girls who have chosen technical fields, but stereotyping continues and much work remains. The gender wage gap is significant - It's why expansion is still key. This emphasis should begin K-12 to build the foundation blocks for success.
Despite protections by law, sexual assault and gender-based harassment continues to be an issue in K-12 and college campuses. Women ages 18-24 are at a higher risk of being sexually assaulted, a risk that is multiplied by 3 as soon as they enter college. Around 13% of all students experience rape or sexual assault. Of that 26.4% of women and 6.8% of men reported rape or sexual assault during their undergraduate years. These numbers are higher within the LGBTQ+ college community; 44% of lesbian women, 61% of bisexual women, and 26% of gay men and 37% of bisexual men, have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. Sexual assault is often not reported, and is actually the most underreported violent crime in America. The most common reasons victims give for not reporting is fear of reprisal, not being believed or supported and instead experiencing victim-blaming. The National Institute of Health concluded that a Pre-college comprehensive sex education, including skills-based training in responses to unwanted sex, may be an effective strategy for preventing sexual assault in college.
We are advocating for the following….
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Double the funding of OCR so there is a larger enforcement body to hold colleges and universities accountable.
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Equal access to STEM programs in K-12 to ensure more female graduates with technical degrees to address opportunities and the gender wage gap.
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Schools to create a safe reporting system for victims of Sexual Assault where the victim does not have to fear for retaliation and victim blaming.
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Reversal of Former Education Secretary Devos’ narrow understanding of sexual assault and accused protections.
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Add protections for people in the LGBTQAI+ community.
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Comprehensive Sexual Education that discusses consent, sexual assault prevention, safe sex practices, and LGBTQAI+ education, nationwide.
Climate Change
We are in the midst of a climate crisis. As a result of placing profits over the environment, current carbon dioxide levels are higher than at any point in at least the last 800,000 years. This has caused global surface temperature rises of around 2.12 degrees since the late 19th century, with most of the warming occurring in the past 40 years. When the surface temperature increases so does the ocean and that has seen a 0.6 degree rise since 1969. With all the rising temperatures we are beginning to see a dramatic shrinking of glaciers and ice sheets. A NASA and NOAA experiment has shown Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2019. When these ice masses melt they cause sea level rises and in the last century we have seen an 8 inch increase in the global sea level. Finally, climate change is manifesting itself through extreme weather events such as an increasing number of intense rainfall, hurricanes, tsunamis, heatwaves and droughts. All of this has been increasing in frequency and severity and that is why we need to reverse course quickly and pass legislation that helps protect the environment and slow down/stop this crisis from happening before we pass the point of no return.
Minority and disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis and rollbacks of environmental protections. What happened in Warren County, North Carolina is unfathomable when a toxic landfill was forced onto an African American community. The contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan is yet another example of environmental injustices. It's on us to make sure local, state and our federal government is held accountable.
We are advocating for the following….
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Passing a set of climate policy priorities through comprehensive legislation with urgency given the time lost, that surpasses even the aspirations of the “Green New Deal”. It’s time for action!
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Work with states to promote and incentivize green clean energy alternatives.
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Prioritize public transportation, high speed rail, expanding electric vehicle charging stations and research and development into electric vehicles.
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Fix the broken recycling system.
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Help farmers move towards sustainable practices.
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Launch a major national initiative requiring schools to visit landfills, waste water treatment plants and recycling centers near where they live.
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Access to clean water and addressing the inequities in underserved communities as witnessed by the crisis in Flint, Michigan.
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Address the chemicals in our food and water supply and ensure babies and growing children are not ingesting toxins in food and water.
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Addressing pollutants in the air that are causing rapid increases in asthma cases in children.
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Do all we can to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
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As an organization, be a conscious consumer of companies that made a net-zero admission pledge.
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Ensuring that our schools are embracing sustainability and work hand in hand with departments of sustainability to improve these practices on our campuses.
Accountability in Government
There is a rampant rise in unethical behavior amongst government officials that is unacceptable and cannot be overlooked. This breach of their fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers and outright disregard for the constitution should be cause for alarm. They must be held accountable for conflicts of interest, insider trading, corruption, accepting gifts, for condoning the January 6th insurrection, and gross mishandling of the Coronavirus. There should be checks and balances and these checks and balance must be enforced. We must protect whistleblowers who call them out. The government has been dysfunctional and slow to act on countless fronts leading us to crisis after crisis. This must stop and they must be held accountable through our votes at the ballot box.
We are advocating for the following….
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Requiring ethics commitments by government officials: ex. Obama Executive Order 13490 but also addressing the enforcement of these and other executive orders.
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Restricting lobbyists from political appointments both before and after their tenure in government.
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Improved whistleblower and watchdog protections and guaranteed appointments for Inspector General positions.
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Increased use of proactive disclosure.
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Strengthening the Freedom Of Information Act by increasing funding to have records be readily available.
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Review the current ethics guidelines and develop more comprehensive protocols to hold elected and appointed government officials accountable. No one should be above the law.
Disability Rights
Disabled community rights are human rights. There are currently 61 million Americans living with disabilities; that’s 26% of our adults in the country. These vary from mobility, to cognitive, vision, etc. With such a large portion of our population having disabilities, it is devastating that 1 in 3 adults with disabilities from 18 to 44 do not have a health care provider; many of these are ex veterans. Equally unacceptable is that another 1 in 3 adults with disabilities have unmet health care needs due to cost. Lack of employment is a struggle for many with a majority of states having below 50% of it’s disabled employed, while in states like Alabama and West Virginia, only 29% are employed. Those with disabilities are further challenged with affordability of healthcare, housing that is suitable for their disability, other essential living costs and experience higher rates of poverty. COVID-19 has also disproportionately affected those with disabilities. This includes (depending on the disability) the inability to get COVID-19 testing or be vaccinated, inaccessibility or lack of ability to use digital health tools, etc. Inclusion and accessibility continue to be a problem and complaints filed with the federal agencies that address fair housing and employment laws largely go unanswered. This must be addressed through increased funding and accountability.
We are advocating for…
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Improved access to care needed through affordable universal healthcare. Home and community-based services (homecare) must be made accessible and affordable to everyone. There are some institutional biases in the current system that must be addressed. Many with disabilities do not have access to the same job opportunities as others, limiting their earning capacity and affordability of essential living needs and conditions. Improvement of disability care must be comprehensive to include all kinds of disabilities, ranging from physical, to learning disabilities like dyslexia and mental health.
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Creating infrastructure to support and facilitate the needs of individuals with disabilities, as well as provide easier access and inclusivity to everyday tools and accessories. This includes on college campuses all across the country, where often there is a lack of resources or structure for many with disabilities. Having classes, dorm rooms, and facilities that help ease life for those with disabilities is a key step forward. This includes both those with physical disabilities and those with learning handicaps who need a different curriculum to suit their needs than what’s offered. An example of curriculum changing that has been a success in recent years is video lectures with closed captions or interpreters, as well as the ability to speed up and slow down videos.
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Campus career counseling and other services should include assistance with navigating job opportunities for graduates with disabilities. This counseling should begin upon entry into the college/university.
Criminal Justice Reform
The racial injustice in our criminal justice system where only 12% of the US population is black, yet black people make up the majority of the U.S. Prison population at 33% is evident. Most recently, we’ve seen racial profiling and police brutality leading to loss of life and utter disregard for the lives of people of color. Body cams and police vehicle cameras have disclosed atrocities and the pervasiveness of these injustices. The George Floyd murder uncovered the need for police reform and the need to invest in underserved communities to address the school to prison pipeline. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 has yet to be passed with House votes cast by party lines. We are a long way from racial and criminal justice reform. Attempts toward introduction of the Demilitarization of Police Act have not been successful. More than 8,000 local police forces, including more than 100 college police agencies, have received over $5 billion in military equipment from the federal government under the “1033 Program.” We need these reform bills. The student vote can make the difference if we own our power.
As of 2020, 2.3 million people are incarcerated in the United States. We have nearly 22% of the world's prisoners which means that nearly 1 out of 5 prisoners in the world is incarcerated in the U.S. Roughly 76% of people held in jails are not convicted of a crime. This is a result of the Prison-Industrial Complex, with the privatization of the prison system creating financial incentives for running these prisons and creating longer sentences, and even worse conditions for prisoners. While the people running these private prisons line their pockets, the recidivism rate is at 43% making their profits larger. Instead of rehabilitation, the U.S. justice system has been more focused on holding prisoners for profit. The big problem with our growing incarceration rates is the failure of the US “War on Drugs” with one-fifth of the incarcerated population, about 456,000 individuals are serving time for a drug charge. This costs around $5.8 Billion annually for federal prisons with a cumulative cost of the War on Drugs being $1 Trillion, That is almost enough to relieve all the U.S. Student Debt. No more privatizing prisons.
In 27 states, felons lose their right to vote during incarceration and once prison sentences are served, some of the states require felons to pay fees, go in front of a commission including the governor, and meet other requirements to earn the right to vote again.
We are advocating for….
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Police accountability and reform through national registries that track complaints, and hold officers to the same standards as citizens. Passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
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Reimagine the role of police departments and institute reforms; reallocate funding so mental health experts may respond to such 911 calls.
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Demilitarization of police departments; there is no need to fund automatic weapons and armored military vehicles.
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No armed police on campuses to ensure de-escalation methods are used.
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The end of the War on Drugs and the release of all non-violent drug offenders.
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The end of privatized prisons, to end the Prison-Industrial Complex.
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Create more humane-prisons and focus on rehabilitation.
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Automatically grant felons the right to vote after their sentence.
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Eliminate the death penalty.
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Fund and hire more public defenders so those who cannot afford an attorney can still get a quality and fair trial.
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Schools should institute separate departments to address racial profiling of their students and be advocates for students of color when complaints are filed.