Schools can play an instrumental role in supporting and nurturing our students, but only when they’re adequately and fairly funded.

Rather than closing schools or turning them over to private, unaccountable managers, we should work to support and build up our schools as strong public institutions in the heart of each and every community.

We need schools that provide wraparound supports and services for students and their families and act as anchors for their communities.

Public education must include an engaging, robust, and well-rounded curriculum that includes the arts, sports, and other creative activities that address the diverse needs of our children and prepare them for college, career and active citizenship.

The rise of high-stakes standardized testing has pitted schools against each other, narrowed the curriculum, and reduced teaching and learning to a bubble test.

Test scores are an obsolete measure of student growth and more accurately reflect students’ out-of-school circumstances rather than the impact of schools and teachers.

We should not hold school funding or teachers’ jobs hostage over a single score.

Harsh school discipline policies disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities.

They increase the likelihood that a student will drop out or become involved in the juvenile justice system, and thus contribute to persistent achievement gaps for these students.

Alternative discipline policies allow students to learn from their mistakes without excluding them from the classroom, and they provide a safer and more supportive school climate.

The success of our nation’s public schools rests on creating a pipeline of quality resources and opportunities from a child’s earliest years through higher education.

This pipeline starts with quality resources and opportunities in a child’s earliest years to ensure their healthy development and prepare them for kindergarten.

Accessible, affordable and high quality postsecondary education is necessary to meet workforce needs and ensure a steady flow of civic-minded, educated community leaders.

We must also ensure a path to educational opportunity for undocumented students.

While pubic schools can be a stairway out of poverty, equally important is a living wage that ensures more hardworking families have the time and resources to dedicate to their children.

As America’s inequality gap grows, we must do more to support children and families both inside and outside the classroom.

Everyone who works hard to care, support, and educate our children deserves a fair wage.