Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

We need to devote the resources that have gone into failed government programs to what has proven the most successful path to new jobs and economic growth: making our public education system the best in the world. That translates into several components: increasing accountability, making schools responsive to local conditions, insuring the best facilities and equipment, recruiting and training potential teachers, and paying good teachers more to teach our kids. It means encouraging vocational schools, charter schools, and online education in rural areas.

Currently, America's K-12 education system is marked both by excessive government intrusion from the federal level while local governments struggle to meet unfunded mandates. Students nearing college graduation don't look at teaching as a viable option for their careers because of poor pay.

For the sake of today's economy and future generations, we must demand more from our schools. At the federal level, we should provide the financial resources to the states so they can implement educational programs that work for them. What works in Nevada or Maine will not necessarily work in Alaska or Texas. On a broader level, our federal government continues to push one-size-fits-all approaches from education to healthcare. Other nations hold education sacred. We must as well.

Our nation attracts the best and brightest from around the world to study in our colleges, and work in technology, life sciences, and higher research. It is my hope that we can educate our students at home to join the best and brightest in the world. We must financially reward those teachers that do good, work with those who need help, and replace those whose classroom performance is below average. We must insure that our students have the materials and facilities they need on day one to succeed. Otherwise, we have failed in preparing future generations for the difficult tasks they will confront.

These ideas are a few among many that I believe we should--and must--consider. The alternatives are no longer an option.

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