Setting New Funding Priorities

Funding for education has been poorly managed for more than a generation, so it will take some time to fix. Currently the major burden is on local payers of property taxes. States, increasingly facing deficits because of the policies coming from Washington, D.C., contribute various amounts. The federal government picks up a pittance despite ever heavier burdens of federal mandates.

States could pick up a greater share of the costs of education if they were more selective in giving tax breaks to corporations and giveaways to new businesses — both programs which show a spotty "return on the investment."

The federal government should begin the work of supporting education by ceasing to place unfunded mandates and ideological constraints on the schools. The federal government should also return to equitable taxation in which the wealthy pay a larger percent in taxes. In particular, the federal government should massively reduce the military budget and invest a good portion of the savings in education.

Helping Our Teachers

Classroom teachers at the elementary and high school levels should be given professional status and salaries comparable to related professions requiring advanced education, training and responsibility.

Opposing Vouchers

We oppose vouchers, or any scheme that will transfer money out of the public school system. We also oppose charter schools or the administration of public schools by private, for-profit entities.

Supporting Non-Violent Dispute Resolution

Dispute resolution is an important part of resolving classroom or after-school disputes. We call for the teaching of non-violent conflict resolution at all levels of education.

Getting Corporations Out of Schools

We are concerned about the intervention in our schools of corporations that promote a culture of consumption and waste. Schools should not be vehicles for commercial advertising. Schools must safeguard students' privacy rights and not make private student information available on corporate (or federal government) request.

Within higher education, we oppose military and corporate control over the priorities and topics of academic research.

Repealing No Child Left Behind

The Leave No Child Behind Act must be repealed, especially the section that gives the military access to student records.

Making Education Tuition-Free

We support tuition-free post secondary (collegiate and vocational) public education. Until tuition-free schooling is available to all, federal college scholarship aid should be increased and offered to any qualified student. We support increased funding for Pell grants and other similar programs for need-based financial assistance. Loans should be available to all students attending college, and should be repayable as a proportion of future earnings rather than at a fixed rate. As an intermediate "stop-gap" measure, college tuition costs should be kept within the rate of inflation.