NYS League of Women Voters - 2014 Voter Guide Questionnaire

Key Endorsements

New York Badass Teachers Association

Party Endorsements

Green Party 

Party Affiliation 

Green Party

Education

BA in Theater Arts, Brown University

MSE, Elementary Education, City College of New York

Experience and Qualifications 

Brian Jones taught elementary grades in New York's public schools for nine years and is currently pursuing a doctorate in urban education. Brian is the co-narrator of the film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. He is a nationally recognized activist whose commentary and writings have appeared on MSNBC, The New York Times, Democracy Now!, and SocialistWorker.org, among others. Brian is the recipient of many awards, including the Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship.

Community Involvement

Brian Jones has been involved in grassroots activism against privatization, school closures, charter school co-locations, and in defense of teacher unions for many years. He is a founding member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators -- the social justice caucus of the United Federation of Teachers. Brian is also a socialist and remains an active member of the International Socialist Organization, for which he writes and speaks widely on issues of racism, the criminal justice system, and civil rights. 

Priorities: What will be your top three priorities if elected?

If elected, my top three priorities would be:

1. Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

2. Legalize marijuana as the first step to ending the New Jim Crow.

3. End the Gap Elimination Adjustment, restoring billions in funding for the schools.