Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

I am both the son of, and father of, a teacher. I have seen both my mother and daughter willingly and passionately sacrifice their time and personal finances to equip their classrooms with supplies and materials needed to further the education of the children in their communities. I wholeheartedly support teachers and para-professionals, and believe they, along with all State employees, deserve a pay increase. However, with that said, I do not believe raising taxes is the answer to the problem. What I see is a mismanagement and misappropriation of already existing educational funds. Raising taxes to fund a pay increase for one entity will solve nothing and create additional financial burdens on those not receiving pay increases. I believe we need to tighten the reigns on those responsible for allocating already existing funds and force them to re-direct that money back toward their original purpose, that is to purchase educational supplies for our classrooms.

"I wholeheartedly support teachers and para-professionals, and believe they, along with all State employees, deserve a pay increase."

I am strongly opposed to Common Core, and a big propionate of traditional education in the State of Oklahoma. My wife and I have raised five wonderful children and are grandparents to 15 exceptional grandchildren, each with unique learning styles. I adamantly believe in local control of schools and the parents' right to choose the best educational opportunity for their child, whether it be public, private or homeschooling.

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