Education is the best way to empower a generation, which is exactly why Donald Trump and his cronies want to control it. From shuttering the Department of Education to attacking universities to prioritizing charter schools over public institutions, the right's crusade against learning is intentionally cruel and meant to curb dissent. That's why the protection and expansion of public education is one of my top priorities. My plan for reinvigorating American education has four main prongs:

• Public Dollars for Public Schools: Tax dollars should be reserved for public education. Conservatives like to tout "school choice" over public schools, but ignore the myriad problems associated with taxpayer-funded charter schools like their propensity for fraud and mismanagement, history of discrimination, and diversion of tax dollars from the public school system. If we want to improve our education system, we need to actually invest in it, not siphon tax dollars from the schools that already exist in our communities.

• Universal Pre-K: Studies show preschool attendance greatly improves academic and personal outcomes for children, from better math and literacy skills to a higher likelihood of graduating high school and college. Every child deserves that type of investment in their future, regardless of their family's financial future. By establishing universal pre-K nationwide, we can ensure a better future for the next generation and give parents one less thing to worry about.

• Teachers Deserve More: Teachers are criminally under-appreciated and, even worse, underpaid. We need a federal minimum yearly salary of $60,000 for every public school teacher. But it's not just their paychecks. The right has been using teachers and schools as a culture war cudgel for years. From violent school board meetings to doxing teachers to bomb threats called into schools, teachers deserve more legal protections as they try to educate our children. Violence and threats against school employees should carry a higher penalty than our current federal laws dictate.

• Affordable and Accessible Education: This one is pretty simple. We should cancel all student debt, make college and trade school free for all (or, at the very least, affordable!), and adequately fund public colleges and universities.

• University Protections: It's not just our K-12 schools that are under fire: Trump is holding universities hostage, both the institutions at large and their individual students. He's not only withholding funds from universities for not adhering to his MAGA agenda but attacking individuals as well, siccing ICE on campuses and arresting students like Mahmoud Khalil for exercising their right to free speech. Universities are the nexus for innovation, social movements, and diversity of thought. If we do not ensure their very ability to function and if we fail to defend students' most basic rights, we risk losing entire generations of changemakers, entrepreneurs, and innovators.