Education
The importance of education extends well beyond the day-to-day classroom learning of our children. Good education creates exponential benefits to our society, from increased economic productivity and opportunities to social and civic progress. Contrary to what we might hear from current elected officials, the federal government can and should have some involvement in the educational system as a whole.
This involvement can be direct or indirect, with a focus on limiting the insertion of federal decision-making over state and local curriculum, but equally ensuring that the infrastructure exists for such localities to make decisions without fear of robbing one program to fund another.
I believe that direct federal involvement is necessary specifically in the area of shoring up our educational system’s physical plant and infrastructure needs. Direct federal grants for repair, maintenance and modernization need to be sought to help alleviate the stress on the local taxpayer, as well as the conflict these stresses create on local school boards.
Equally important is the support to our district that the federal government can provide in an indirect way. First and foremost, I would seek to end placing unfunded mandates on the state. This does not mean I do not believe in setting reasonable mandates, but rather that should we choose to do so, we need to make certain that the federal government provides enough funding for them.
In addition, the federal government has a large interest in making certain that the state and municipalities have an adequate social and education support system. We need to assess and promote what is working in education, and provide different options for school districts based on their needs, resources and priorities.
We must have legislation and policies in place in all school districts that will provide schools and teachers with all tools that will ensure academic progress. We need to have ongoing professional development for teachers who continue to work with thousands of students for academic success, closing the achievement gap, innovative and effective programs, and promoting dedicated individuals to pursue teaching. We must support the educational system by ensuring that we have measureable improvements in scores and academic progress. We need to encourage the increased dissemination of evidence-based curriculums that work with diverse groups of students.
A key component of early childhood education is having support systems in place that will help families with parenting and coping skills with the different demands throughout the Educational System. We need to understand the pressures that parents and children face today with media, social networking, and access to drugs and alcohol.
Given the number of choices for parents on whether to enroll their children to private, public or home-schooling, we need to have academic standards for everyone no matter if learning happens in the traditional classroom or a home environment. Parents, teachers, and students must learn new strategies on transitioning from familiar backgrounds and circumstances to new, global settings with diverse populations.
The success of early childhood education is to ensure that we give all parents access to programs that have been developed for successful students. Families need to have access to quality programs and services for early childhood centers and daycare centers. It is imperative that parents realize their involvement with child’s education is the key to a child’s success.
Students and parents must realize the wealth of public, private, and technical colleges in the State of Wisconsin. Each one of these venues offers support systems to help students and families in access, retention and graduation. We need to do more to ensure that students are encouraged not only to think about “life after high school” but also what strategies they will employ to be successful in a vocational or professional school.
Ultimately the parents, children, teachers and administrators of our district want the same things: better buildings, satisfied teachers, interested parents and superior academic results. While the federal government cannot alone create these improvements, it should be and is the resolve of my candidacy to help fund the state and local agencies who can coordinate future successes in these areas.