Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

Educational excellence and innovation have always been and will remain critical to the nation's future and success, and any cuts, for any cause, will only serve to keep America out of the lead on the world stage. The Founders placed a high priority on growing the nation's educational institutions and quality, and as a member of the House of Representatives, I would be obligated to uphold that ideal for K1-12 public schools and public universities. Investments in education are proven sources of economic growth and advancement, and I will oppose any effort to reduce the commitment of the federal government to improving the quality of education and expanding access to educational resources, and I will promote economic equality in districting while focusing on halting the upward trend on costs; although, cost pressure on public education in the district is tied in greatest part to the human resources of teachers and administrators, where economic disparity is already holding these professionals below the economic curve on the basis of societal need and value, and the curve must be raised to keep quality teachers and attract the brightest students into educational careers which are so essential to building the future, as well as the science and engineering fields.

In states, including Ohio, and some public schools in the 1st District, where school districts have cut back on education, particularly cutting teachers, increasing classroom sizes, and cuts to programs in the arts and sports which contribute so much to the rounded development of children, I will work to find alternative funding to prevent the cuts or restore the affected programs. The recession has shown that the basis of funding for schools must also be changed, or supplemented with fixed sources, because the education of our children cannot be so tied to the vote-mandated tax base of district-segmented property owners that economic pressures imposed upon them can result in a drop in the quality of education. Economic disparity in setting of school-district boundaries imposes severe hardships upon lower-income neighborhoods, as voters in these districts are less able to vote for necessary school funding, and a mechanism for shared responsibility must be devised to bring balance and insure stability in all economic climates for all school districts as a broader reach of community and national responsibility.

Our children and adolescents depend upon education as a constant, and they are not able to provide it themselves; they depend upon us, just as they do for housing and food, and we have an obligation, parental, societal, and governmental, not to let them down. This may be one of the few applications for earmarks that is justifiable. Investment in the fully rounded, high-caliber education of children is not an area where cuts can ever be afforded, particularly when there is such great waste in other areas and the need for a literate, knowledge-diversified electorate is greater than it has ever been.

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