As one who graduated with a teaching degree I have a unique perspective on this issue. Like anything in our country, I believe that the position of a teacher should be reserved for those who are the best at what they do. There should be not a single instance that a bad teacher is given tenure. The bottom 20 percent of teachers should be replaced by a new group of candidates each and every year while the top 20 percent should receive bonuses for their achievements.
I believe that parents should have the ability to send their children to schools that they choose. As parents we deserve options when it comes to educating our children. Our children deserve the best educational opportunities available. smaller schools rooms with the latest amenities, as well as a safe, nurturing environment to grow in. Schools need to accountable for their performance, and encouraging well-planned educational innovations such as charter and contract schools, and vouchers.
The best way to improve accountability is education is to put parents in charge. When parents are empowered to use their tax dollars and choose the best schools for their children, whether it is public or private schools, education in America will flourish. Competition is acceptable to the growth and success of all industries except where it concerns public education. The Sad truth is the place where we should see the building blocks to be successful and to encourage healthy competition is the place that, abhors change and competition the most.
Without healthy competition and meaningful parental choice and involvement, the dramatic improvements in public schools that is so desperately needed will never be realized or enacted. When parents are given the power to choose the best schools for their children, public schools will have to resist bureaucracies and special interest to either improve or close. Continuing to prop up patronage-driven school board bureaucracies and failed educational constructs only continues to hurt our children
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that appropriately-designed private school choice programs are fully Constitutional. School choice is based on the core beliefs that: a) the ‘government’s money’ comes from you, the taxpayer; b) choice programs fund children, not schools; and c) parents know best where to send their children to receive a good education.
I support tax credits for individuals and corporate contributions to organizations that are willing to provide educational scholarships to eligible students so they can attend qualified public and private schools of their parents’ choice. My plan would allow a taxpayer to carry forward any unused tax credits for up to five years. I believe it is important to allow taxpayers to carry forward unused tax credits into other tax years to ensure that taxpayers have an incentive to continue to contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations even in years that the taxpayer has no tax liability.
Additionally I do not believe that public, private, or charter schools are the only answer. Home based learning as well as distant-ed coops should also be regarded as viable sources for education. I believe co-ops and integration charter programs should be considered. Even though the end goal is the same, not every student learns the same way. Since we are dealing with people, personalization need to be a factor if we are going to ensure complete success. Some students will flourish and excel under home based learning versus that of conventional educations. If the education system is really about education it should embrace alternative forms of education realizing one size does not fit all. to integrate learning through video classes, or exchange programs would only serve the fullest maxim of any educator.
According to a report published by the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, Home based learning student achievement test scores were exceptionally high. The median scores for every subtest at every grade were well above those of public and Catholic/private-school students. On average, Home based learning students in grades one to four performed one grade level above their age-level public/private school peers on achievement tests. Students who had been Home based educated throughout their entire academic life had higher scholastic achievement test scores than students who had also attended other educational programs.
I believe the job of the Teacher is to teach our children the facts; History, math, science, etc from original sources. They should not be allowed to force their ideology on our children. There should be no politicizing history. History is History. The founding fathers, the deeds of Presidents, etc. This is not the place to attempt to program our youth to a specific political ideology, to the left or the right. That is an infringement on the rights as parents and there is no provision constitutionally that allows this in any way, shape, form or fashion.
Our futures are much better served by giving our children the facts and allow for them to decide on their paths in life. Most of us painfully realize that the majority of our local taxes are consumed by the cost of education in our areas and with all the continuing tax hikes, we see a decrease in what our children are getting in terms of an education. Art, Music, Sports programs are all being cut at an alarming rate all across this nation while pension plans, and bureaucratic infrastructure, salary and bonuses go up.
I support performance standards and quarterly reviews. With milestones based evaluations posted publically of performing vs non-performing schools and excellent vs mediocre or poor performing teachers, this would make the transparently accountable to parents, and educational contributors alike.
