Issue Position: Education Excellence

Issue Position

Our legislature should emphasize investments in early childhood education that have demonstrable success at making kids kindergarten-ready, especially in light of the scholarly consensus that a tremendous amount of cognitive development happens before the age of 4 years old.
No single factor is more important to the long-term economic development of our community than our K-12 education system. In the legislature, I will advocate for:
continued efforts to invest in teacher training in strategic fields (like pre-professional STEM training, especially in high-value vocational fields like nursing, medical imaging, and laboratory support).
investing in digital and virtual learning solutions that are demonstrated to work.
tailoring student assessment to capture workforce readiness, so that we can have less and more focused testing.
funding affordable after school programs that provide assistance with homework, delinquency prevention, life skills and the development of good character for Florida's working families.
Every K-12 funding decision should be guided by this simple test: what is this expenditure of taxpayer resources going to do to increase economic opportunity for the kids it's supposed to benefit, and does it do it in a way that's fair to all kids?
Florida should lead the way in home-grown talent in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math -- the so-called STEM fields. That means
Greater emphasis on vocational and technical training for fields that supply access to excellent incomes with less than a 4-year college degree, especially in healthcare fields.
Incentives for students to major in four-year and advanced degrees at our state universities, including loan assistance for top scholars who commit to staying in Florida for at least 5 years after graduation.

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