The Democratic Party believes that public education is the cornerstone of our economy, democracy and society, and every person deserves access to high-quality,
adequate education.

• We strongly support the state's ongoing effort to improve public education at all levels and applaud innovations in public education that complement the improvements already underway through the Education Reform Act of 1993.
  
  
• We believe public education is a top priority at all levels of government, and we reject policies that direct funds away from the children and programs in our schools, in order to finance political promises of tax reductions or other unrelated purposes.
  
  
• We strongly oppose any effort to change the state constitution's current prohibition against the use of taxpayers dollars to private or religious schools and we oppose school vouchers which direct public funds away from public schools and toward private or religious schools. We call upon the state to change funding of Commonwealth Charter schools to ensure that funds are not drained from established schools.
  
  
• We support challenging academic standards in core subjects for all students. We believe that school systems, teachers and administrators also must be held to strong standards of accountability. We oppose use of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test as a solely decisive determinant of graduation from high school.
  
  
• We believe that smaller class sizes mean better schools. We support incentives to attract, hire and retain motivated, competent teachers. We also support expanded opportunities in teacher training and professional development.
  
  
• We have high hopes and expectations for all students, and we believe that educational opportunity must be made available without regard to race, gender, economic status or disability. We reaffirm out support for classroom programs, including Special and Bilingual Education, that can help children reach their fullest potential, and for state and federal laws barring discrimination in our classrooms.
  
  
• We strongly support the implementation and full funding of universal early childhood education, with developmentally-appropriate programs for all children under age 6. We support the extension of HeadStart to all eligible children, and full-day Kindergarten throughout all public schools in this state.
  
  
• We believe that to better promote academic success, combat crime and substance abuse among teenagers, and aid working families, Massachusetts must develop a strong network of after-school and summer enrichment programs for all children. We propose to do this in part by leveraging the public's considerable investment in school buildings by turning them, wherever possible, into true community centers serving all ages throughout the day.