Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

We must support our students
Our children deserve an education that will allow them to compete on a global scale. As a parent, I want the best education for my daughters and all the children of the state from a public school at a price taxpayers can afford.

Having attended both Springfield Public Schools and Missouri State University, I have experienced first-hand the value of public education. Across the country children in public schools are dropping out at alarming rates except in Springfield. This is why it is important that control be left in the hands of the district and the classrooms so districts like ours locally can continue to be successful. We do not want the problems that are plagueing the school districts in Kansas City and St. Louis and the drastic solutions to those problems to impact our school districts that are doing well in southwest Missouri.

We must empower parents
I appreciate parents who make the difficult and sometimes costly decisions for private schools or home school. I will oppose any efforts to infringe on parents' rights to choose what education is best for their children. We must provide accurate information to parents so that they can make the best decisions for their children's future. As a parent, I want to know how my daughters are performing against local and national standards in math, reading, science, etc… As a parent, I want to know real-time when they are performing well and where they are falling behind. I want to be empowered on what I can do as a parent to help them improve. This level of parental engagement demands that schools provide more than a grade card, and requires better statistics be available to parents securely over the internet.

We must support our teachers
The cost of living in Springfield is approaching that of bigger cities like Kansas City and St. Louis, however teacher's incomes have not adjusted appropriately. That is why I support eliminating/leveling out the dollar value modifier in Missouri's funding formula. According to the formula each school district is assigned a dollar value modification ratio of 1.x. This is higher in Kansas City and St. Louis and much lower for schools in southwest Missouri. As we address the formula in the coming years I will work to try to reduce the impact of or eliminate this part of the formula.
As a proud alumnus of Springfield Public Schools (R-12) I appreciates the struggle that Springfield and the surrounding Schools have in keeping quality Educators. I will fight to make sure that we retain the talented educators we need.

We must connect with local churches and charities
One of the most successful public school stories in Missouri is "Bright Futures" in Joplin. This program challenges churches and charities to adopt a classroom or a need for the school district. Southwest Missouri has an abundance of churches and charities that are ready, willing, and able to address the needs of the children in the public schools. We must remove the barriers that stop that from happening.

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