The right of every American child to a high-quality, free public education is one of America's most treasured principles. We must improve the quality of public education in those schools that are struggling and expand public education to include pre-kindergarten beginning at age 3 for any families that want it, as well as tuition-free college for millions of students.

The education and well-being of our nation's children is a collective responsibility that all Americans share;  education is a life-long process beginning long before a child enters kindergarten. Studies have shown that the most critical cognitive development occurs in the years from birth to age 3. I am an advocate for early childhood education, with a special emphasis on the support and care of low-income infants and toddlers.

The Importance of Early Childhood Education (Pre-K/Head Start)
As a teacher of young children, I discovered early on that young children love learning new things; childhood is dedicated to learning and growing. In low income families parents may work multiple jobs in the struggle to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads so there is no time for bedtime stories and educational games. Sadly, there is often no money for books. For these children it is critical that they enter an environment that provides positive, educational stimulation, guided social interaction and teaches the basics of counting, the alphabet and memory skills. My mother taught me to read at the age of two and I did the same for my children. My son graduated from high school at the age of 15 and my youngest daughter will graduate at 16 and go on to college.

School Lunch Program
I attended private school from 1st grade through college; all three of my children attended public school in California and Maryland. As a single mother, it was sometimes a struggle to pay for all the miscellany and still manage to have lunch money. When there is no parent at home in the morning some children often miss breakfast which makes lunch a critical meal.  Hunger is a distraction to adults and children alike; you can't learn when you're hungry. We need to ensure that every child that needs to be part of a sponsored lunch program is included.

The Problem with How We Teach
While No Child Left Behind has created a mandate that every student be presented with a basic functional education, for many students it has stripped away not only art and music but also critical thinking and analytical skills. At the end of the education process the student will be able to land a simple job as a worker but they will lack the extra skills necessary to become a manager or executive.  People ask me why I am so comfortable as a speaker and I realized it is because I studied speech for 10 years as part of my schoolwork. We wrote, directed and acted in plays, read poetry and discussed how and why these things were relevant to our lives.  We engaged each other as well as our teachers.  We must also give  more emphasis to the arts; the arts stimulate creative mathematical thinking.

There is a problem with how we utilize standardized test results.  I worked with exceptional students for two years as a learning specialist. Any student who received less than a passing grade on a test spent at least one period with me. We worked together to determine if the test results were simply a "bad day" or an indication that a key element of learning was missing. If, indeed, the problem was a missing learning block,  it was my job to help the student "over the learning hump" and return them back to their class group. With this approach I rarely had the same student with the same issue for more than one or two periods.  Some of our very bright students created exercises and games that were fun and educational; I quickly learned that children learn from each other much faster than they learn from adults.  A school that thought it would need to close its doors in 6 months remained open for 15 more years. When the principal retired, a panel of student representatives from the First through Eighth grade selected the new principal.

Education must emphasize creative and critical thinking, not just test taking. I believe we can take our children and society in a new direction by challenging this notion that education should be so limited. We ought to be encouraging art, music, language, history, science and creative writing in our schools. In doing so, we recognize and fuel the wide range of talents our children possess and prepare them to be successful in a 21st century global economy.