Building a World Class School System

No institution has proven to be more pivotal to America’s prosperity than public education.  The productivity of our workforce and the vitality of our democracy both depend on our willingness to sustain a thorough and innovative system of free public schools. 

Yet the increasing demands of a global economy and the challenges of a changing society have strained our schools.  Misplaced priorities,misguided laws and misallocated resources have also undermined our success.  Our children deserve better. 

A Record of Leadership 

Andrew Romanoff has dedicated much of his career to public education.  As a teacher and as a policymaker, he has worked to expand opportunities for all Coloradans.  Andrew led the fight for high-quality early childhood education, so that more students can start school ready to learn.  He worked to provide a more stable learning environment for homeless children, so that they can remain in the same school over the course of a year even as their families are shuttled from shelter to shelter.  He has been a champion of higher education,ensuring that the doors of Colorado’s community colleges and universities remain open to students from low- and middle-income backgrounds.

In 2007, Andrew led a statewide tour of Colorado’s rural schools. He recognized that many of our aging school buildings pose a health or safety risk to students and staff. Working with State Treasurer Cary Kennedy, Andrew sponsored the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST)Act. The result: the largest investment in school construction in state history, a billion-dollar plan to transform Colorado’s crumbling classrooms.

Andrew’s leadership has earned top honors from every major education organization in Colorado, including the Colorado Education Association, the Colorado Association of School Boards, the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children, and the American Association of University Professors.

A Plan of Action 

As our U.S. Senator, Andrew will continue his fight to strengthen our schools, so that every child can fulfill his or her potential.  He will work to close the achievement gap and enhance America’s competitiveness on the global stage.  He will help make the federal government a more effective partner to states and school districts, by cutting red tape and putting a priority on the needs of students.   He will champion efforts to: 

• Prepare children for kindergarten, by investing in high-quality early childhood education.
• Provide teachers and principals with the time, training, technology and professional development they need to succeed.
• Align standards and assessments so that students, parents and educators receive accurate, useful and timely information.
• Develop rigorous, research-based curricula that prepare students for postsecondary education and employment.
• Ensure a wide array of choices – and strong measures of accountability – within the public-school system.
• Expand access to higher education – including community colleges, career and technical education, four-year colleges and universities – by increasing the availability of work-study funding and other forms of financial aid.
• Encourage parental involvement and community support, by integrating health care, day care and other social services.