Dennis Kucinich on Education

Rep. Kucinich supports making college tuition-free for students attending state universities, supports universal pre-kindergarten, more funding for fixing/building schools and opposes vouchers. He wants to triple Head Starts budget and allow it to run all day.

Head Start:

Kucinich has proposed an amendment to Head Start that would vastly expand the program by allowing all centers to run for a full day and by increasing the number of children who qualify for the program, raising family eligibility thresholds to twice the federal poverty line. He would tripling the Head Start budget to bring an additional 1.5 million children into the program.

Universal Pre-K:

Kucinich has introduced the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Act, a bill to create a free, universal, and voluntary pre-kindergarten program for 3- to 5-year-old children across the county. The cost of this program is $60 billion per year, which he would pay for by cutting the Pentagon budget by 15%. The Universal Pre-Kindergarten Act will provide funding to states to establish universal pre-kindergarten programs that build on existing federal and state pre-kindergarten initiatives. The program is voluntary and will be available free of charge to all families who choose to participate. The legislation requires pre-kindergarten programs to meet quality standards of early education and provides resources for the professional development of teachers.

Vouchers:

Kucinich strongly opposes vouchers.

School buildings:

Kucinisch co-sponsored the Better Classroom Act and the Expand and Build America's Schools Act, two bills to help communities make needed school repairs and expansions.

College tuition:

Kucinichs has a plan (no details yet) to provide tuition-free higher education to millions of students in state universities.

Directly from the candidate:

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. I am here to act on my view that the education and well-being of our nation's children is a collective responsibility that all Americans share, and that 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. That is one reason I have been a leading advocate for early childhood education, with a special emphasis on the support and care of low-income infants and toddlers.