Question: Do you support or oppose efforts to develop a high-quality,
affordable early care and learning system in Vermont, and why?
I am in favor of free education from cradle to grave. Education adds value not
only for the individual but for society as a whole. The question is not if
education is affordable the question is whether we can afford not to educate
our people. Child care is essential to allow for people to live their lives in
a less stressful and more meaningful manner. I support both funded child care
and leave for parents to care for their children for the first year after they
are born.
Question: What would you do to ensure there is sufficient capacity to meet the
needs of Vermont families with young children?
I would promote fully funded childcare along with technological measures to
allow for parents to view their kids when they are at childcare facilities.
I also believe that act 46 school consolidation is counterproductive to good
educational outcomes.
Question: What would be your recommendation on how to fund a high-quality,
affordable system in our state?
This is a question that involves more than statewide funding. The US as a whole
spends more on the military than any other country in the world. Vermont should
withdraw from excessive military funding, unnecessary, expensive and cruel
imprisonment of people convicted of petty or drug offenses and surveillance
programs. The money wasted on these programs would do more than fund education.
It would be able to fund health-care.