Why?

It is my great honor to have been chosen as a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

I come to this convention with my heart in my hands, filled with pride about my country and its promises to our young people, and filled with hope that we can make better promises and keep them.

My father, who came to this country as a young boy from Italy, will be joining me as my official guest at the Convention. I come for him, who left everything he knew to make a better life for his children, and I come for my own son, in the hopes that I can make his life better.

I’ve spent over 20 years working in the educational industry, first in higher education publishing, and, more recently, providing consulting support to elementary educational publishing and resources companies. We have a long way to go to make our public educational system really work for our kids.

Over the last several years, I’ve done a lot of work with elementary science education, which needs even more help than other areas! The average elementary school child gets only about an hour a week of education in science — not enough to capture her/his excitement and provide the right building blocks for a rich understanding of science. Earlier this year, in conjunction with my colleagues at Arc Capital Development and Chicago Educational Publishing Company, with support from a premiere DC lobbying firm, Carmen Group, Inc., I founded the Elementary Science Coalition.

The Coalition is a step towards increasing our national awareness of the importance of science education, with both national public outreach and lobbying efforts. 

As I have begun this work, it has reminded me that information IS power. So, this blog is my effort to share with you how Democrats are imagining education moving forward, as soon as the ideas are being made public.