What one congressional committee would you most like to chair, if given the opportunity? And how would that position serve your constituents?
One day I would like to chair the Education and Workforce Committee as it oversees federal programs for early childhood education, K-12, and higher education.
My mother spent countless hours in our elementary school classrooms, a fixture of the PTA, a woman who lived for her children. When she died of cancer in 1992, books were donated to the school library in her name.
My stepmother gave her career to the public schools of the Bay Area. My siblings and I attended college only because my father worked at Stanford which covered our tuition. We were not wealthy. We were lucky and I have never confused the two.
I know what it means when the system works and what it means when it doesn’t.
Both of my sons have autism. When my eldest was struggling in through TK and into Kindergarten—when the calls came, when the behavior reports arrived, when I stood there as a father with no map and no answers—I felt something I suspect every parent in that position has felt: helplessness.
I feared he one day he would have to be home schooled but we were, again, fortunate. He had teachers who refused to give up, a school that leaned in, and a community with the resources to help. Today, he is happier, improved immensely and I know—I know—that not every child has what he has.
My youngest son, three years old, began a preschool for children with special needs this January. We are grateful. We are also clear-eyed. Gratitude and complacency are not the same thing.
The research is unambiguous: every $1 invested in early childhood development returns $4 to $6 in measurable benefit—in educational outcomes, in reduced costs, in flourishing that compounds for a lifetime.
But those early years are not a second chance. There is no second chance. Miss that window and it is closed forever.
No parent who works hard to put food on the table should lie awake wondering whether they have already failed their child. That feeling—I have felt it. It is not acceptable as public policy.
We know what free, universal child care would cost. We also know that the Pentagon recently requested $200 billion to fund an illegal war in Iran.
That is not a small sum. It is, however, approximately what a generous national child care program would cost for an entire year. We have the money. We have always had the money. What we have lacked is the political leadership to spend it on our children instead of our wars.
What one congressional committee would you most like to chair, if given the opportunity? And how would that position serve your constituents?
I would like to chair the Education and Workforce Committee as it oversees federal programs for early childhood education, K-12 and higher education. I know what it means when the system works and when it doesn’t. Both of my sons have autism. (My eldest) had teachers who refused to give up, a school that leaned in and a community with the resources to help. He has improved immensely. We know what free, universal childcare would cost. We also know that the Pentagon recently requested $200 billion to fund an illegal war in Iran. We have the money.