The Right to Public Education in Utah. A public education system is a right guaranteed by our State Constitution, and as such should be a top funding priority in Utah’s government.
Thriving Economy = More Education Funding. The key to increased education funding is a thriving economy, not tax increases. Tax increases may offer a short term gain but they have long term consequences. Additionally, a focus on growing the economy drives better job opportunities for our students once they enter the job market. The way to grow our economy is to get our own government out of the way of small business and to stop them from competing with business.
Local Decision Making. More local control over education is far better than more federal or even state control. It empowers parents and teachers to do what is best for the student and solve the local issues they face.
Local Budget Control. More funding must make it all the way to the classroom so that our children get the best teachers, textbooks, and technology possible to ensure a great education. In addition, we need to empower our local schools to have the freedom to use their available budget how they see fit, rather than have the state mandate their budget usage.
Entice Innovation in Public Schools. Reward and recognize teachers for innovation in our public education system. The best ideas to achieve innovation come from those individuals actually dealing with the local school issues (principals, teachers and parents), not from top-down state and federal mandates. We need to enable and entice innovation in our public education system at that local level.
Transparency at all Levels. Transparency in government is essential, including at the local level. It gives parents and teachers the ability to monitor how education funding is being prioritized and spent and it reduces waste at all administrative levels.
Direct Engagement. Finally, I am committed to personally staying engaged with our schools and school leadership through regular attendance to school board meetings, and regular visits to schools and teachers in my district, and regular engagement with concerned citizens in my district relative to education issues.
