My fellow Virgin Islanders, this is Shelley Moorhead. When I look into the eyes of our young people, I see brilliance, resilience, and potential — but I also see how Congress has failed them. For generations, our children have been denied the schools, scholarships, and opportunities that are taken for granted elsewhere in America. That is not by accident; it is the result of a colonial system that invests less in our future and then wonders why inequality persists.
The June 2025 Virgin Islands Board of Education report makes the truth plain: our public schools are in crisis. On St. Croix, 83% of eighth graders scored below math proficiency. On St. Thomas–St. John, 72% of fourth graders fell below reading benchmarks. Chronic teacher vacancies, outdated curricula, and deteriorating facilities have left our children stranded in a system that Congress designed but refuses to fix. This is educational neglect, and it is the direct legacy of our political status.
The 2024 Kids Count USVI Data Spotlight adds another painful layer: too many of our young people ages 16–24 are neither in school, work, nor training. These “Opportunity Youth” are not broken — the system is. We have abandoned them at the very moment they should be entering careers, higher education, or training. This is not just a statistic; it is a betrayal of a generation.
That’s why USWARD makes education a pillar of our movement for justice and self-determination.
1. Modern Schools for a Modern People
No child should learn in crumbling classrooms or with outdated technology. We will demand federal investment to rebuild our schools, train our teachers, and bring 21st-century learning to every corner of the Virgin Islands.
2. Scholarships that Open Doors
Higher education should not be a privilege for the few. We will expand scholarships, especially through partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities, so every student with the talent and drive has a pathway forward.
3. Workforce Pathways that Empower
Education must prepare our youth for meaningful work. That means building pipelines into technology, trades, and public service — equipping Virgin Islanders with the skills to power our economy and govern our own destiny. And we will target “Opportunity Youth” directly, with apprenticeships, career training, and mentoring designed to cut this crisis in half within a decade.
4. Correcting Historical Wrongs
The failures exposed in these reports are not just numbers — they are the children of this territory being robbed of their future. USWARD will confront this injustice head-on and ensure that every child today — and every generation tomorrow — receives the full measure of investment they are owed.
Because education is more than classrooms and textbooks. It is the seed of sovereignty, the root of economic justice, and the promise that our children will not inherit the same chains of dependency. With USWARD, we will move toward a future where the brilliance of our people is matched by the opportunities they deserve.