Fully Funding Public Schools and Supporting Teachers
A strong public school system is the heartbeat of every community in Missouri’s 4th District. From our smallest rural towns to our growing suburbs, our schools do more than just educate—they serve as community hubs, local employers, and the foundation for our children’s futures.
Unfortunately, our public schools are being starved of the resources they need. When corporate interests and ideological extremists look to defund public education, it is our children and our hard-working teachers who pay the price. We must commit to fully funding our public schools so every child, regardless of their zip code, has access to a world-class education.
Our Priorities for Stronger Public Schools
1. Defending Federal Educational Standards and Oversight
We are witnessing an unprecedented and dangerous push to dismantle the federal Department of Education. Forcing education entirely onto individual states leaves our children vulnerable to chaotic, inconsistent, and highly politicized standards. We must maintain a strong national framework that ensures every student in America learns core science, history, reading, and math competencies. A stable federal standard is essential to ensure our next generation can compete globally, rather than allowing partisan state agendas to jeopardize the quality of our children’s diplomas.
2. Protecting Special Education and Disability Services
Every child has a right to a free, appropriate public education that meets their unique needs. Right now, federal special education programs face massive uncertainty due to shifting bureaucracies across different agencies. We must fiercely protect the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and ensure that dedicated funding flows directly to our local classrooms without delay. Our schools must be fully equipped with the specialized teachers, speech therapists, and learning accommodations necessary to support students with disabilities, ensuring no child is left behind.
3. Raising Teacher Pay and Supporting Staff
Missouri ranks near the bottom of the nation in starting teacher salaries. We are facing a critical shortage of educators because we expect them to do one of the most important jobs in society while paying them wages that make it difficult to support a family. We will fight for federal matching funds to dramatically increase baseline salaries for public school teachers, counselors, and support staff. If we want the best outcomes for our kids, we must respect and retain the professionals we trust to teach them.
4. Expanding Affordable Rural Childcare and Pre-K
For working parents in our district, finding safe, reliable, and affordable childcare is an exhausting hurdle that often prevents parents from entering or remaining in the workforce. We must expand federal investments in early childhood education and rural childcare grants. By making quality Pre-K accessible to every family, we give our toddlers a head start on learning while providing crucial economic relief to working parents.
The Bottom Line
Education is an investment in our collective future, not a business to be privatized or a political battleground to be dismantled. By protecting federal oversight, securing special education funding, and giving our teachers the pay they deserve, we can build a public school system that lifts up every family in Missouri.