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Promoting Educational Opportunity
Investing in education is one of the most effective ways to break the cycle of poverty, empower individuals, and build a more equitable and thriving society. By ensuring that every person has access to high-quality education from early childhood through adulthood, we can unlock their full potential and create pathways to success. Elements to expand educational opportunity for all include:
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Expanding Universal PreK: Research shows high-quality, early education lays the foundation for future success. We must continue to support greater access to free, high-quality preschool programs and early intervention services to support children's cognitive, social, and emotional development.
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Closing the Achievement Gap: We must remain committed to policies that ensure all students can reach their potential, including addressing disparities in academic outcomes, graduation rates, and access to advanced coursework and extracurricular activities.
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Supporting Educators: Teachers are the heart of our education system. We must support them with the resources, training, and compensation they deserve by investing in professional development programs, reducing class sizes, and providing competitive salaries and benefits to attract and retain talented educators.
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Making College Affordable: Higher education should be accessible and affordable for all individuals who wish to pursue it. We need to advance initiatives to reduce the cost of college, eliminate the burden of college debt, increase financial aid opportunities, and expand access to vocational and technical training programs that lead to high-demand careers.
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Promoting Lifelong Learning: We need to support opportunities for continuous learning and skill development throughout adulthood, including adult education programs, workforce training initiatives, and retraining programs for workers transitioning to new industries.