Issue Position: Education Excellence and Reform

Issue Position

EDUCATION EXCELLENCE & REFORM
Outside of family and church, I believe our education system is the most important influence on our children. Our economic competitiveness depends greatly upon a well-educated citizenry. So I believe our hard-earned money should be spent in the classroom to benefit our children -- not to the benefit education bureaucrats. Teachers should have the freedom to develop each child's God-given attributes and abilities instead of just teaching to a test. The 83rd Legislature passed some important education reforms, and I will continue that work. I strongly oppose a one-size-fits-all education system that imposes top-down curricula while taking away local control from parents, teachers, and school boards. The federal government should respect its constitutional responsibility and not intrude into our state's education system. Programs like CSCOPE and Common Core have no place in Texas classrooms. All curricula and lesson planning platforms (including those online) should fall under the supervision of the State Board of Education. I believe children and parents should have the ability to benefit from school choice and from charter schools.

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