Education

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

Pramila knows that early education provides a strong start that can have a long lasting and far reaching positive impact in the lives of our children and our community. She was named a Children’s Alliance Champion in the State Senate for her efforts to pass the Early Start Act that put an additional $158 million into early childhood education and she’ll continue to be a strong advocate for early childhood education in Congress.

SUPPORTING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS

America’s public schools teachers have one of the greatest responsibilities in our nation. That’s why Pramila fights for increased teacher pay and benefits, so we can attract and retain the very best. And she’ll work to get rid of unnecessary testing that burden teachers so that they can get back to preparing our children with the skills they need to compete in the 21st-century economy.

FIGHTING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

In the State Senate Pramila served on the Equity and Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee, where she led critical conversations about equity in all education policies. She pushed for reforms that take into account the individual student rather than just aggregate data points. She also helped create a model policy for language translation and interpretation for Limited English Proficient parents and  fought for additional support for teachers of bilingual and special needs kids.

Pramila understands the importance of higher education to our economy and believes all hardworking students deserve the opportunity to receive the education they need to succeed. In the State Senate, she introduced the Washington Promise program, which would provide two years of guaranteed tuition at community and technical colleges for all eligible Washington residents. She was also a key player in the passage of our state’s DREAM Act, working with allies across Washington to ensure children of immigrants have the opportunity to attend college.

ENDING COLLEGE DEBT

In Congress, Pramila is continuing to advocate for closing the higher education gap for low-income students and children of color. She believes that no student - regardless of background or income level, who is willing and able to go to college - should  be denied because they can’t afford the cost. Pramila introduced the College for All Act in the House (Bernie Sanders introduced its counterpart in the Senate) to make public universities and colleges tuition free for 80 percent of all students, allow existing student borrowers to refinance and slash their interest rates in half, and make community college free for all.