See my views on affirmative action and educational disparity here.
As an immigrant and an engineer, I understand the value of education as the fundamental component of American success. Yet, education in the United States lags behind many countries of the world. Despite bold ambitions and a whopping 1.4 trillion dollars in taxpayer funding over four decades, the Department of Education has struggled to produce veritable improvements in America’s K-12 systems. At a time when schools have become partisan battlegrounds and inequalities persist, we need to develop a better approach. California’s public school education ranking today is 41 out of the 50 states.
We need a focused approach to bolster our educational offering - the very future of America’s competitiveness in the global world is at stake. We need to enhance our education system to teach our students everything they need to find a place in the local economy, to help bridge the income inequality with economic opportunities, while shirking a divisive curriculum. America needs to define a future where we come together as one - teaming and winning! America also needs an educational plan in a Covid-19 world - or any other future pandemic - to keep our schools open, functional and educating our children, while obviating any health challenges. We also need to push for a Broadband Expansion to ensure that no child is left behind – the new 4 r’s being Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Routers. Sociologists have pointed out that academic achievements correlate to stable family structures. Instilling strong emphasis on family values. And we need to educate the family as a whole, not just the students.
Education is the opportunity to bridge the income inequality gap and address the root cause of some of our woes of today. 46% of Americans believe that K-12 STEM Education in the US is below average. We have to fix that after all Silicon Valley is the innovation capital of the world with plentiful jobs available for the right type of talent.
Educational programs have been a cornerstone to my work in the community: I launched the no-charge Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for youth across Silicon Valley, training, educating and empowering thousands of disadvantaged students. By teaming up with San Jose's Mayor Sam Liccardo, we were able to implement this pathway to empowerment and learning through STEM in many disadvantaged areas of San Jose. I have also hosted the no-charge Lego Robotics Bootcamp for many years to teach robotic design and programming.
I was honored to be nominated to the California Computer Science Strategic Implementation Panel, a California Department of Education initiative. We rolled out a K-12 Computer Science curriculum for every K-12 Public School student in California. This program is set to go-live in 2022. If we can begin to provide opportunities to all youth, regardless of their family's income level, we can begin to level the playing field in many disadvantaged communities.
As your Congressman, I will work to make education available for the masses - especially for our youth from disadvantaged communities. I support the expansion of early childhood education programs to give the best possible start to all children. I will continue promoting STEM and entrepreneurship education opportunities for our youth. I will work to expand vocational, career & technical education, while making public colleges much more affordable, considering every option to make college education free and accessible.
I will propose programs that will provide an opportunity for our high school graduates to be productive in the American workforce to address the needs of our local economy. I will launch Silicon Valley Innovation Centers of Excellence focused on the latest technological innovation, that will provide a platform for Silicon Valley youth to collaborate, and effectively create an ecosystem of industry experts, professors, teachers and students. Additionally, I am committed to ensuring that all schools receive the necessary funding for special education, and I am in favor of increasing federal funding for the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
