Education is NOT A PRIVILEGE reserved for the wealthy. Education is a RIGHT. We demand equal access to education for all students. The standard of quality education must be at the highest level for all students regardless of income, neighborhood, urban/rural, ethnicity or state from preschool to college. Equal access to education is the most important way to raise the living standard and build a positive future for America.

We need to ensure that native-born African American students are also attending the best universities in the country. A child's start in life with K-12 education has enormous importance for the rest of their life. All children must be given the best possible early childhood education with positive support and expectations, making sure that the fundamental 3 R's: reading, writing, and arithmetic, and learning the deep history of African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and other minorities, inspires all children to achieve their full potential.

Public school education funding must be equal for all students based on the same amount allocated per student for state and federal public school funding. Skewed local funding decisions where rich neighborhood schools receive more funding than poor neighborhood schools must stop. School funding segregation must be finally ended.

Additionally, Increased funding and focus on trade schools where the quality of nonacademic education can meet infrastructure needs. There must be respect for working with your hands.

Booker T. Washington and his students built Tuskegee Institute with their own hands. They knew that education and literacy was the key to everything successful in society. This burning desire for education should inspire and ignite African American students today to reach for the stars.

College and university tuition fees have risen astronomically the last three decades. American higher education must not be exclusively for the wealthy from around the world. American higher education must be accessible for all American students that qualify to attend. Higher education must be publicly supported by state and federal governments and be made tuition free for US students. Students must not start their careers saddled with enormous debts they may never be able to pay off. We support the ‘‘College for All Act’’ introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Students must be assisted in making the transition from college to the corporate world. Education must be utilized in order to benefit the student. Starting a business can be an uphill battle for the newly educated. One of the fundamental keys to the future is creating and supporting Black businesses.