EDUCATION
There is no more important issue facing
Parents who are the most directly involved with the
education of their kids are tempted to send their children to private
school. Still others consider leaving
the state because they perceive that schools in other areas are better. Teachers leave the state or don’t come here
in the first place because salaries are higher elsewhere, particularly in
nearby states. Teachers find their
experience with our children ignored in favor of a single standardized test
with substantial consequences. Children
are sent long distances to distant schools and not always because their
education is improved but for other reasons.
No one step will resolve all of these concerns but there
are things we can do.
I propose that we
1) Pay teachers enough to attract the very best to our
schools - and keep them in our classrooms.
2) Encourage teacher’s autonomy. Let teachers find the best ways to teach the
students in their classes while making sure that each teacher fully understands
the ultimate goal as established by State standards for learning.
3) Encourage parents to choose the education best suited
for their children. We should do whatever
we can to foster choice among educational alternatives for parents and
students. As one of the founders of the
Charter School of Newark, I think charter schools should be one of the
alternatives available to families. So also should home schooling be an alternative,
provided the parental teacher meets appropriate academic standards.
4) Shorten School Board terms of office from the current
five years. Lengthy terms tend to
isolate School Board members from parental pressures making change much more
difficult.
5) Make sure every parent’s involvement is welcomed and go
out of our way to encourage it. Parents
care about their kids and their schools and we can challenge parents to help
the professionals make our schools better.
6) Increase the State’s share of the cost of building new
schools. The cost of constructing new
schools needed as a result of the construction of new homes in our
neighborhoods should be viewed as a problem to be resolved by the State and not
by increasing the school taxes of the existing residents.
We cannot afford an educational system that does not do
everything possible to help every child become the very best person he or she
can be.