Green Jobs
- The Green Lantern will invest in local training programs to provide pathways out of poverty for our high school and college graduates. Good, green jobs in our communities, supporting our communities.
- We will allocate part of the budget to the weatherization for our older buildings, as well as provide business incentives to develop new, LEED certified buildings locally. Green roofs, public transportation - the investment in our community's health is an investment in our environment.
- We will work strategically with our allies in the Senate and House. We can champion a green investment in D.C. and be a beacon for the cities and states across America.
Sign our Green Jobs Pledge here: http://noi7.bluestatedigital.com/page/signup/greenjobs
Immigration Reform
The Green Lantern is keeping the DREAM alive!
As the son of Mexican-American parents, the Green Lantern clearly understands the necessity behind promptly passing comprehensive immigration reform. Furthermore, he recognizes the urgency behind empowering emerging talented immigrant youths in their pursuit of higher education.
Currently our country’s laws prevent students from reaching that next step. Often in order for an undocumented student to receive tuition benefits, they must have graduated from an in-state high school, have been in the state for a certain amount of years, and they must sign an affidavit declaring that they are seeking citizenship.
“This is neither a social or moral issue, but rather an economic issue. To refuse them the opportunity to attend college and enhance their professional career and future endeavors, does not make for practical or financially viable policy, especially in these financially uncertain times.”
Undocumented students have demonstrated a strong commitment to giving back to their communities and improving the quality of life for the people of our nation, by choosing career paths in health, education, science and progressive politics. It would be a terrible loss for our nation to continue to deny them this opportunity to contribute to our nation in significant ways.
“I am proud to support the DREAM Act, and the many thousands of undocumented students, in tremendous need of this bill to be enacted into law.”
LGBT Rights
The Green Lantern believes that all Americans and DC citizens share certain inalienable rights (even though the Lantern is definitely not an alien), including the right to marry the person they love.
Crime and Public Safety
The Green Lantern's crime fighting abilities are world-renown. With his ability to change the physical world around him through his willpower and his Power Ring, the Lantern's credo is clear:
In brightest day, in blackest night No evil shall escape my sight Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!
The Green Lantern will put all of his might behind making the District of Columbia a safe and crime-free city.
DC Statehood
- The Green Lantern knows well the price of inequality. The District of Columbia is a living, breathing, vibrant community, dependent on the same industries and public services that all states in our country enjoy. Our people, the people of D.C., must be recognized for their independent status as the 51st state in the Union.
- We will work with members of Congress to leverage the votes we need to make sure the voices of the people of D.C. are respected.
- We will ensure that we receive full voting rights in the House and Senate; only through full equality can true unity be achieved.
Education
Education Guiding Principles
Providing a high-quality education for all children is critical to DC’s economic future. Our nation’s economic competitiveness and the path to the DCn Dream depend on providing every child with an education that will enable them to succeed in a global economy that is predicated on knowledge and innovation. Green Lantern is committed to providing every child access to a complete and competitive education, from cradle through career.
Focus on Early Childhood Education
The years before a child reaches kindergarten are among the most critical in his or her life to influence learning. Green Lantern is committed to providing the support that our youngest children need to prepare to succeed later in school. The Green Lantern supports a seamless and comprehensive set of services and support for children, from birth through age 5. Because the Green Lantern is committed to helping all children succeed – regardless of where they spend their day – he will urge states to impose high standards across all publicly funded early learning settings, develop new programs to improve opportunities and outcomes, engage parents in their child’s early learning and development, and improve the early education workforce.
Reform and Invest in K-12 Education
Green Lantern will reform DC’s public schools to deliver a 21st Century education that will prepare all children for success in the new global workplace. He will foster a race to the top in our nation’s schools, by promoting world-class academic standards and a curriculum that fosters critical thinking, problem solving, and the innovative use of knowledge to prepare students for college and career. He will push to end the use of ineffective, "off-the-shelf" tests, and support new, state-of-the-art assessment and accountability systems that provide timely and useful information about the learning and progress of individual students.
Teachers are the single most important resource to a child’s learning.
Green Lantern will ensure that teachers are supported as professionals in the classroom, while also holding them more accountable. He will invest in innovative strategies to help teachers to improve student outcomes, and use rewards and incentives to keep talented teachers in the schools that need them the most. Green Lantern will invest in a national effort to prepare and reward outstanding teachers, while recruiting the best and brightest to the field of teaching. And he will challenge State and school districts to remove ineffective teachers from the classroom.
The Green Lantern believes that investment in education must be accompanied by reform and innovation. The Green Lantern supports the expansion of high-quality charter schools. He has challenged States to lift limits that stifle growth among successful charter schools and has encouraged rigorous accountability for all charter schools.