Issue Position: Education - Reading, Writing, & Rebuilding from the Group Up

Issue Position

There is no more important issue facing America today than the strength of our nation's schools and the quality of the education our children are receiving. President Reagan said, "As a nation, we are dedicated to excellence in education. It makes a better life for our children as individuals, and it further secures the liberty we cherish."

In Congress, my goal is to empower states, cities, school districts and schools with the tools necessary to recapture education in America. All American citizens, be they children or adults, must be equipped to succeed in an increasingly global marketplace. Congress shouldn't be dictating education policy, but we can be instrumental in making sure our school districts, teachers and parents have the resources they need to give our students the educations they will need to succeed in life.

I have long believed that parents, teachers and local school districts are the ones to meet the educational needs of their students, if only we succeed by letting them do their jobs. But for decades, Congress has failed them miserably. The federal government has set up a multi-billion dollar bureaucracy for schools and school districts to navigate, robbing billions and billions of dollars from the classroom, out of the hands of teachers, and as far away from students as possible.

The result of Congress's failure in education policy has been declining test scores, fewer teachers entering the profession, bigger class sizes, a crumbling education infrastructure, and American students falling behind many of their counterparts around the world.

The Kyrsten Sinema answer is to throw more money at a broken system hoping a few extra dollars will change policies which have never worked and never will. In Congress, I will work with my colleagues from around the nation to involve educators and parents in crafting real solutions to fix America's schools. Once again, we must rise to the challenge--the future of America's children depends on it.

Source