Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

If you know me, you know education is important to my family and me. (Go back and read "Meet Rick" to understand me more.) We are all aware that our children and adults must have access to quality education if they are going to be able to master those skills and knowledge they need to compete and excel in our ever-changing world.

I know that one of the most important economic development tools for Georgia and the families we serve is an educated workforce. I respect and appreciate that this opportunity would not be possible without the hard work of teachers and parents. We must be committed to providing the resources and learning environment to make this happen.

We have many excellent Pre K- 12 schools, technical colleges, colleges and universities; with trained, dedicated teachers, and hard-working administrators. Our state needs to reduce paperwork and allow teachers to teach. We do need to improve our dropout rates and achievement test scores.

We have been through some very difficult economic times in our State. We have been able to put money back into the budget for schools during the past few years after some very lean times. My hope is that our economy will continue improve and we must make sure our citizens have the tools to capitalize on our new economy by investing in our children's education.

When decisions need to be made, you can count on Rick to do what is best for our students.

We Must Be Pro-Education Some steps that we can take to get there:

Local control is important. Recognize that all counties are not the same and that their needs and problems are diverse. What is good for downtown Savannah or Atlanta may not be what's needed in Fairmount or Tate.

Look for ways for schools to spend more dollars directly for the classroom by reducing overhead, controlling cost and bureaucracy, and streamlining reporting.

Invest in technology and education to put our young people and adults in a position to succeed. It's a benefit to all of us to build a great educational system in the 11th District.

Support the efforts of schools to maintain an effective level of discipline to maintain the best educational environment for our youth.

Encourage the establishment of additional charter schools to give parents more choices for their child's education.

Protect home-school parents' rights to choose this honorable method of educating their children.

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