Education

Working to provide every American with the opportunity to receive a quality education.

To me, there is no higher calling than being a teacher. At one point in my career, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to teach at Parkway High School in Philadelphia, known as the first public “school without walls” in the country, and see firsthand the transformational power of education in children’s lives.  Education has been a steppingstone to opportunity for my family, as it has been for many Ohio families, which is why I believe a great education should be the basic right of every child. Education is what makes the American Dream possible, and it’s the key to our long-term economic strength in this increasingly competitive global economy.

• Lee knows that funding education for our children is the best investment we can make in the future of Ohio and the country. He believes that every child should have the chance to dream and grow beyond the limits of the neighborhood they live in, or the family they were born in. Where in Ohio you grow up should not determine where in life you end up. He feels every child should have the chance to succeed and that it is quality education that makes that possible.
• As Senator, Lee will make sure we give every child the opportunity to get a world class education, because workforce development begins with a nurtured, educated child. Lee believes there is an unbreakable link between educational attainment and economic prosperity: a quality, affordable and accessible education is necessary to the development of a skilled, highly-educated workforce.
• Lee has worked with Governor Strickland to lead state efforts to fairly fund and improve our educational system, such as providing for early childhood education, improving teacher training, developing innovative ways to reward teachers who are doing a great job, lowering class size, making college affordable and accessible, and reducing our over-reliance on local property taxes to fund our public schools.
• Lee supports increased accountability for all charter schools and state and federal support for innovative, high-performing charter schools.
• As Ohio’s Attorney General, Lee established “Project Safe Schools,” a program to combat violence in schools through education, mediation, and intervention.
• Lee believes it is important for the federal government to live up to its promise to fully fund 40 percent of the cost of special education. He also feels it is vitally important to find ways to make college affordable to those that aspire to attend.