Education  

A world class education system requires a 21st Century design.

The quality of life that Minnesotans enjoy is based on our commitment to education.  We rank at or near the top of many national benchmarks for our K-12 system.  The bad news is that national rankings against the rest of the world have been sliding precipitously.  College graduates, especially in math and science, are shrinking.  Couple that with the retirement of the baby boomer generation and our business community faces a serious loss of quality educated workers.  The rest of the world is busy producing world class students, we must do the same. 

Studies show that dollars invested in early childhood development yield an incredible return for the individual and public.  All children must start school ready to learn.  Then they should enter schools of excellence, appropriately resourced. With the proper commitment from parents, students, educators, government and business we can realize a student body that graduates prepared to enter higher education with confidence and ready to compete in a global economy.  Higher education must be affordable and accessible to all.  Statistics reveal that the fastest growing segment of our population is minority and low-income youth least likely to attend college.  It is in the best interest of Minnesota  that we find a way to educate all our citizens, young and old.  Continuing education opportunities should be accessible to all in order to sharpen and advance our skills over our lifetimes.  A well-educated community benefits us all:  crime goes down, income goes up, businesses have quality, home-grown talent to fill the jobs of the future, our quality of life continues to improve, Innovations materialize, sustainability is assured.  Education is a critical component of a healthy and prosperous community.

I support increased funding for education including ECE, ECFE, Head Start, all-day kindergarten, k-12 and higher education.  I also support raising the expectation bar for our students and our teachers.

We are the leaders of the world.  We must continually be challenging ourselves to be better, smarter, more innovative and more productive.  Education is the key to success in life.  It should be a life long endeavor.  Residents of Minnesota should have affordable access to a quality education regardless of their age or status in life.

Who benefits from an education?  We all do.  The more educated our populace is, the more prosperous and productive we all will be.  In addition, children who stay in school and do well in school raise the level of their own self esteem as well as their ability to perform at high levels in the business world. People with high self esteem and a solid education are less likely to get into trouble with the law or put themselves in positions they would regret.

As your State Senator my educational priorities have been:

·    To close the achievement gap by starting early in a young person’s life.  Early Childhood Education (ECE), Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) and programs such as Head Start are excellent tools for identifying at-risk children and providing them with opportunities to hit the ground running when they enter kindergarten.  I support funding and logistical support for schools and community groups promoting, developing and implementing early childhood education and early childhood family education.

·    K - 12 classes should be extended both in terms of hours per day and length of school year.

·    Teachers should be compensated properly for the jobs they are performing.  Base salaries should reflect the importance of their position.  However, it is proven that a good teacher is worth their weight in gold.  High performing teachers should be rewarded appropriately.

·    Class room sizes should never exceed 30 students to each teacher.

·    K - 12 schools should have access to current technology.  Our curriculums should be preparing students for the modern world. Use of the internet and online services a basic components of every school districts student services. 

·    All schools, including institutions of higher learning, should be networked with one another.

·    State level support of the State College system and the University of Minnesota should be at a level that meets the needs of those institutions, while remaining lean and removes the excessive tuition burden on our students.  Additionally, we should develop incentive programs for students that reward sustained, credible and extraordinary achievement.  Students that perform above a certain grade level should qualify for special financing options for attending college.  College students performing at a similar level should be able to receive tax credits, reduced fees or tuition, or special loan rates, maybe even loan forgiveness with special consideration given to students entering and completing programs in critical needs areas.