Kurland, Baker and Cieniawski: Let's elect O'Callaghan to congress

We are educators and activists for public schools in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. The three of us have all endorsed Conor O’Callaghan for congress because he came up from the Scottsdale Unified School District system, earned three Ivy League degrees, a law degree, and thrived in his career. He returned to his roots in Scottsdale and now his children go to public school just like him.

Notably, Conor has a vision for how to help fix Arizona public schools with federal solutions. Too often people think education is just a local issue. And while the three of us have all worked tirelessly for our schools and students at the local level, there are things congress can and should do.

O’Callaghan has the most specifics regarding education policy and a genuine track record that gives us confidence he will deliver. He will fight for more federal funding to modernize public schools in AZ01. That means fixing dilapidated buildings and updating facility infrastructure for K-12 schools.

O’Callaghan will prioritize increased federal investments to help states expand public high-quality pre-kindergarten programs so that all children finally have access to full-day pre-kindergarten if their parents want it. O’Callaghan has made it clear that he will push for enhancements to the Employer-Provided Childcare Credit – which incentivizes employers to provide childcare to employees.

O’Callaghan’s 20 years of experience in the finance sector specifically equips him to strengthen this important tax credit, which would boost the economy while enhancing the quality of education for young children.

Talk with educators and activists. By and large, they’ll tell you that O’Callaghan will deliver for schools when he gets to D.C. It’s time we sent a product of our public school system to congress to fight on our behalf. That’s Conor O’Callaghan.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.