In high school, I took Ms. Julia Chismar’s economics class. She was the kind of teacher who poured tremendous energy into each day’s lesson. She sacrificed her time to mentor extracurricular teams, encouraging students to take on new challenges. Ms. Chismar always believed in me, I think more than I even believed in myself.

The promise we make in America is that every child should have access to an education that will give them the power to live a life of their choosing. I believe that the way our government approaches education should center on students, teachers, and parents.

America has so many teachers like Ms. Chismar, who enter their profession committed to unlocking students’ potential. Our classrooms are filled with students who go to school each morning eager to deepen their understanding of a subject they love. And parents in every community want the best for their children, so that they have opportunities to explore and learn, to build on their knowledge each year they are in school, and finish high school with the tools they need to succeed in the world.

But that’s not the reality for far too many children in America. Far from putting our kids on a level playing field, America’s education system takes already vast disparities and makes them worse. Some public schools give first graders iPads on the first day, others are struggling to afford textbooks. Some parents are easily able to afford quality early education programs, others struggle to find any form of child care while they balance multiple jobs. Some children sit in air-conditioned classrooms and spend one-on-one time with teachers who can give them the mentorship they need to thrive, other children sit in overcrowded, overheated classrooms where their teachers don’t have the time to get to know them well enough to realize what they are capable of.

My administration will focus on providing students the skills and the support they need to succeed by investing early and prioritizing equity. Education priorities need to be focused on preparing kids for 2054, not 1954. We will make crucial improvements to early childhood learning so all students are prepared for kindergarten, and resource our K-12 teachers and schools to ensure students can learn and succeed regardless of their family income or zip code. Closing funding gaps by directing more resources to historically underserved children and communities can pave the path for the more equitable and accessible K-12 system that our students deserve.

We will support parents by ensuring universal access to affordable child care and pre-K, and offering new programs to bridge the gap after school and over the summer, when working parents have fewer options to keep their children safe and engaged.

And my plan will empower teachers. This is personal for me. My husband, Chasten, is a junior high school teacher. I’ve seen up close the incredible challenges that educators across the country face — from late nights grading papers, to emptying their own bank accounts to pay for school supplies, to acting as counselors and social workers in addition to educators. Their earning power has fallen over the past few decades. Teachers and school leaders of color are underrepresented in K-12 education, despite research showing that their work improves outcomes for students of color and benefits all students. And early childhood educators, who are predominantly women and disproportionately women of color, earn on average less than $11 per hour. We need to honor teachers like soldiers, and pay them like doctors. That’s why, as President, I will raise salaries for educators in early education and K-12. I will create more and better ways to recruit, train, and retain diverse talent for our schools. I will increase professional development opportunities for our education workforce and make sure schools have the resources they need to be exceptional places to teach and learn.

When we get this right, our kids will start kindergarten ready to succeed. They will have greater educational opportunities, including those outside a traditional classroom — lessening the pernicious effects of poverty and race on access to quality early childhood and public education. We will trust teachers and their expertise, and our system will nurture students’ curiosity, creativity, and ingenuity — achieving better competency in math and language arts, and higher high school graduation rates. By the time they graduate, our students will be prepared to go to college if they choose, and will be equipped with the skills to start careers in well-paying jobs that fit our changing economy.

Our society and economy overall will reap the benefits of students’ knowledge, creativity, and skills, but my set of proposals is about more than just training the future workforce. It is also about preparing the next generation of citizens and future voters. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once wrote that education is the “real safeguard of democracy.” When we strengthen our education system, we strengthen our democracy. And with these policies, we won’t just teach students about America’s founding value of freedom; we will embed it into the American experience for all.

If you agree that we need an education system that sets our children — and our country — up for success, read Pete’s plan.